Tom McKibbin produced a birdie-birdie finish to move to -5 and be the leading Irishman going into moving day at the DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Playing in the afternoon wave on day two after an opening three-under 69 on day one, the Holywood man was slow getting started, bogeying two of his opening six and failing to take advantage of the only par-5 on the front side.
But a birdie on eight after taking an aggressive line to the flag perched on the left side of a green guarded short and left by a hazard sparked the revival, and he followed up with a dart at the par-3 10th to get back to level for the day.
After six consecutive pars, he closed out with back-to-back birdies on the closing par-5s, lifting him into a tie for 21st going into the weekend.
Earlier in the day, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry were a little out of sorts and finished the day locked together at -3 after rounds of 72 and 74 respectively.
McIlroy bogeyed three holes in succession on the front side, but after birdieing the eighth, reeled off four in a five-hole stretch on the back nine to get to -5 and back into the mix with two par-5s to come. Unfortunately, he missed the fairway to the right on both, settling for par on 17 but going out-of-bounds on the last and eventually making a double bogey that ranked T44 at the end of the day.
Lowry, who finished strongest on day one to card a five-under 67, began day two with a bogey and found himself on +2 at the turn. It was an up-and-down day all-round for the Offaly man, but he head a chance to get back to level-par for the day on the last after birdieing the previous two holes, but he found the fairway bunker and caught the lip on his escape and the ball rolled back to his feet.
Noticeably frustrated, he closed out with a bogey-six and joined McIlroy in the clubhouse at -3.
Unfortunately, Padraig Harrington won’t be around for the weekend after a second successive one-over 73 left him four shots outside the cut mark.
Hideki Matsuyama leads by one shot after firing two extraordinary eagles in his second-round 64, but he has a world-class chasing pack waiting to pounce over the weekend.
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 when he teed off in the afternoon.
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.
Matsuyama 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.
“This is my first time playing Wentworth. I wasn’t expecting I would play this good. So very happy with the round today,” the 2021 Masters champion said.
“It’s obviously 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 conditions are going to be changing for the weekend, so hopefully I can adjust to that and looking forward to the weekend.”
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.
Japanese star Matsuyama opened his birdie account at the second before slotting in his 14-foot eagle putt on the par-five fourth.
A fine approach shot on the seventh set up another birdie there before Matsuyama birdied the 11th, 12th and 14th to grab a share of the lead.
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