Six players have still to complete their second round at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club outside of London but their fate will do nothing to impact on the top of the leader-board where Spains’ John Rahm and England’s Danny Willett hold a two shot lead over Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson.
Another two shots back lie Paul Casey and Billy Horschel and so even if this event was to develop into a battle between just this group over the weekend then the large crowds who have turned out to watch the European Tour’s flagship event will have plenty to get excited about.
Willett is excited as well. With mixed results to date in 2019 and a missed cut at one of his favourite venues in Switzerland two weeks ago this was an encouraging start to an event and venue which is dear to his heart.
“It’s amazing. It’s my 10th straight year, and playing with Westy (Lee Westwood), I think it’s his 26th,” said the 31-year old.
“It’s one of those places where you love coming back. The crowds are amazing. They always are. I’ve had a couple nice finishes around here and the crowds help you along and really get behind you, and it’s a fantastic spectacle for golf.
“For me, and I think if you ask anyone out here, it’s the best condition I’ve seen it in the ten years I’ve been here. It’s all set up for a really good weekend.”
Willett’s round of 65 was equalled by only Billy Horschel, a fast start in which he was 5 under par through 5 holes, the catalyst for his impressive score.
Rahm, playing this event for the first occasion, recovered from bogeys at his opening two holes to birdie his next four holes and, when he eagled the last, his round of 67 had him in the lead on his own before Willett finished his round a few minutes later.
“Made two bogeys on the first two, but it’s not like I had major misses or it just felt bad,” said Rahm.
“It happens on this course, one is a tough hole and two was short, basically one yard off on both tee shots. I didn’t get too frustrated.
“Being out there after 36 holes, with 36 to go, it’s important to have a chance, especially on a course that I’ve never seen before and a tournament this important. It is the Rolex Series, it’s a tournament we all want to win. There’s a lot of history here and a lot of legends on the walls, so it would be great to join that great list of players.”
The only Australian who could possibly make the cut is West Australian, Jason Scrivener, who is one of the six caught on the golf course when darkness halted play.
Scrivener is playing the final hole at Wentworth, a par 5 but will need to at least birdie the hole to be around for the weekend.
Lucas Herbert and Wade Ormsby will miss the cut by one shot, a bogey at the last by Ormsby a costly one.
Extensive highlights of Rahm’s second round 67 🎥 #BMWPGA #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/0k3y7GN6Es
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 20, 2019
Photo above features Danny Willett courtesy of Getty
