BMW PGA Championship Day 2 Wrap Up

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

WELL, that wasn't meant to happen, was it? Rory McIlroy was supposed to shake off all effects of winning twice in three weeks and successfully defend his BMW PGA championship at Wentworth. Instead, he followed a 71 with a horrible 78 and missed the cut by the proverbial mile.

And the world No1 admitted that although he was disappointed, he was actually quite pleased to have a few days off before hosting the Irish Open, which starts at Royal County Down on Thursday. And you can be certain of one thing - by the time he gets there, McIlroy will be fit, refreshed and raring to go.

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Mind you, he wasn't the only one who was missing in action. Patrick Reed, the American golfer, had entered the tournament and his image was prominent around Wentworth. Instead, he opted to remain in American and compete in the Crowne Plaza at  Colonial. He is also due to tee it up at the Irish Open, but we will have to wait with interest to find if whether he does.

Meanwhile, Francesco Molinari birdied the final two holes for the second day running to maintain his position at the top of the leaderboard thanks to a 69. He led by one shot after Korea’s Byeong Hun An shot a superb 64. Molinari, who has finished in the top 10n in each of the past three years at Wentworth, dropped two shots in the first three holes of his second round, but hit back  with five birdies to move to ten under par for the tournament.

An began with five birdies in his first seven holes, before picking up three more shots on the back nine to surge through the field and into second place on nine under par.

Argentine Emiliano Grillo posted two eagles on the back nine - on the 12th and 18th holes – in a seven under par round of 65 to sit two shots back in a share of third place with Thongchai Jaidee at the halfway mark. Jaidee carded six birdies in his round of 66, while a shot further back is Englishman James Morrison, winner of last week’s Open de España, who continued his good form with a round of 66 to lie three shots off the pace in fifth position.

"I feel that I am playing really well," Morrison said. "I have had plenty of chances to win more tournaments but always seem to fall back at the weekend and end up with top 10 finishes. Hopefully, I can now change things."

Molinari said: “I'm really happy. The start is really tricky, with the first three holes. I think I played them okay. My chipping wasn't good enough on the first and on the third to save par. I managed to steady the ship and made a few birdies coming in at the end, so it is a good day. I enjoy playing here.”

Grillo was not surprised to find himself in contention. “I've been hitting it well," he said. "My stats for the last four years, I’ve been on the Top?10 in greens in regulation, and I knew that the only thing I needed to adjust was the putting and I've been working a lot on that and it's been paying off.”

The greens have come in for some criticism, but Jaidee had no complaints. “The key was putting so well today," he said. "You can see the score is quite low today. I made only one mistake today on the 11th hole. I cannot complain about the round. I haven’t putted well like this in a long time. That's why we have 66 today.”

Graeme Storm, of England, opened with a 78, but played brilliantly for a second round of 64 to make the cut with something to spare.