McIlroy throws Wentworth wobbly

From winning smiles to anger management, Rory McIlroy’s amazing run of form hit a speed bump at Wentworth yesterday, but not so bad as to send his BMW PGA Championship title defence off course.

The world No1 has won in two of his last three starts, at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play and last Sunday’s Wells Fargo Championship, in which he shot a third-round 61 at Quail Hollow to lay the platform for a dominant seven-shot victory.

Yesterday, back for his first tournament of the year on European soil but his fourth consecutive week of competition, McIlroy appeared to run out of steam, at least between the ears, with the Irishman pictured tossing a fairway wood in frustration after a poor second shot on the par-five 17th.