Harrington ready for Wentworth

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON will make his first appearance in the European Tour’s flagship BMW PGA Championship for three years at Wentworth from May 20-23.

The announcement was made after Harrington finally managed to practice on the new-look West Course yesterday after being forced to change his plans last week because of flight problems caused by the volcanic ash.

“I’m very impressed with the changes that have been made and in particular I’m happy to see the way that the greens are now putting,” said the three-time major winner.

“I really want to win the BMW PGA Championship and look forward to coming back. Once I heard that they were going to remodel the greens, I said that when that happens I’ll be one of the first there.”

Meanwhile, defending champion Thongchai Jaidee defied fatigue to card a superb five-under-par second round and share a one-shot clubhouse lead at the weather-affected Ballantine’s Championship. Thai star Thongchai moved to eight under par at the top of the leaderboard alongside Argentina’s Tano Goya at a blustery Pinx Golf Club, where officials have decided to shorten the event by one round to 54 holes.

Nearly seven hours were lost to fog on Thursday and only half the field completed their second rounds yesterday, with many playing in excess of 30 holes in persistent winds of 15-20 miles per hour on Jeju island, which lies to the south of the Korean peninsula.

Asian number one Thongchai wrapped up a three-under-par first round this morning before kick-starting his bid to defend his title in bright but testing afternoon conditions which affected tee shots by as much as 150 yards and forced as much as a four-club difference in shot selection.

“I played very well in both rounds today,” said the weary 40-year-old Thai, after playing 35 holes in 11 hours. “I had a good game plan and also my putting is working this week.

First-round leader Marcus Fraser sits a shot off the pace tied for third on seven under par with fellow Australian Brett Rumford, who posted a second-round 70.

Fraser still has his second round to come today ahead of tomorrow’s final round, while an imposing group including in-form duo Ernie Els and Anthony Kim also have 18 holes in hand and are three shots further back.

Officials took the unusually early decision to cut the tournament to 54 holes even before some players had finished their first rounds yesterday, with a full tournament believed to be unlikely.

Goya had earlier moved within one shot of day one pacesetter Fraser after carding just a solitary bogey in a six under par first round 66, which was capped off by a hat-trick of birdies.

The 21-year-old was level par through the first nine holes of his second round despite two birdies, but he crucially picked up two further gains on a flawless trip home to top the leaderboard after a 34 holes day.

“Putting was the key,” he said.

“I played very well on the greens and hit a lot of fairways. Because it was so windy I missed a lot of greens, but I saved a lot with the putts.”

Mark Foster’s first-round 66 still left the Worksop golfer ideally placed.

Foster, like playing partner Fraser and Robert-Jan Derksen improved to five under after a second-round 68 alongside Johan Edfors. The Swede battled to a 71.