Hideki Matsuyama leads the BMW PGA Championship by one shot at the halfway stage after firing two extraordinary eagles in his second-round 64, but he has a world-class chasing pack waiting to pounce over the weekend at Wentworth Club.
Related: Aberg, Vaillant share BMW PGA Championship lead
The tournament debutant found himself four shots off the lead at the conclusion of the weather-affected first round on Friday morning but soon set about closing the gap at the Rolex Series event when he teed off in the afternoon.’
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The Major Champion turned in 31 after making an eagle and two birdies on the front nine before a run of three gains in four holes after the turn catapulted him up the leaderboard.
The Japanese star bogeyed the 15th following an errant tee-shot but bounced back in style with a chip-in eagle on the 17th to take the outright lead on 12 under par.
European Ryder Cup stars Justin Rose, Ludvig Åberg and Viktor Hovland share second place on 11 under, with Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal another stroke further back.
Home favourite Rose carded eight birdies and two bogeys in his impressive 66, while Norwegian Hovland made the same score after firing four birdies and a spectacular closing eagle. Swede Åberg, meanwhile, signed for a 69 which featured five birdies and two bogeys.
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Play was suspended due to darkness at 19:20 on Friday evening, with round two set to restart at 07:00 on Saturday morning. Round three will be a one tee start in three-balls, and will not start before 08:00.
Player Quotes
Hideki Matsuyama: This is my first time playing Wentworth. I wasn’t expecting I would play this good. So, very happy with the round today. There’s not something specific. It’s more like flow. I had a really good flow process yesterday. So everything went really well.
Obviously it’s a very challenging golf course. You know, I’m just trying to focus on my game, trying to do the same thing for tomorrow and the weekend. So looking forward to the weekend.
I would love to achieve something big right here, but obviously the condition are going to be changing for the weekend, so hopefully I can adjust to that, and looking forward to the weekend.
Viktor Hovland: I can’t remember when I chipped it and putted it as nicely as I did the last two days. That goes a long way. Iron play was not so good yesterday and started ramping up towards the end of the round. Today was better. We’re getting it better but I still have to drive it a little bit better so I can get myself more iron shots from the fairway but really happy with the way I’m scoring.
I’m super happy to be where I’m at and scoring-wise, it’s incredible to be honest with you. I really am struggling off the tee, and I’m just trying to do whatever I can just to put it in the fairway. Trying not to hit it off-line and in the trees, and so far, it’s been good, and from there I’ve been amazing. But I do want to play the game a little bit more stress-free.
