McIlroy hopes high of making Wentworth cut

Rory McIlroy, who double-bogeyed the 15th and bogeyed the 16th, has high hopes of making the cut at Wentworth on one over for the tournament.

He was four under for the day prior to that and another birdie at the 17th meant a 69.

World number three Lee Westwood, meanwhile, was left waiting to see if he had survived the cut on two over, but Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie looked safely through on level par and Justin Rose had high hopes too on one over.

“I went for a stupid shot, but overall it was not a bad round,” he said.

Luke Donald and Paul Casey – close friends, but very different golfers – are both battling for one of the biggest prizes in European golf.

A second successive 68 gave Donald the early clubhouse lead at six under par on the second day of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

But Casey, the defending champion, then handed in the same score and was tucked in just two shots behind Donald.

Casey’s caddie now is Donald’s brother Christian, and the big-hitting Surrey golfer said: “Christian calls Luke ’Plod’ and he has plodded his way round very well.

“Luke’s probably one of the masters of plotting his way round and it’s no surprise to see his name at the top of the leaderboard the way this course is now.”

Wentworth has been toughened up by Ernie Els, with the revamped long 18th a particular talking point with water in front of the green.

“I like the changes – you really do have to plan your way around,” said Donald after picking up birdies at the fourth, fifth, eighth and 17th and dropping his only shot at the 12th, a hole which has been altered from a par five to a par four.

Although he had set the clubhouse target, 22-year-old Danny Willett, the first-round leader, began his second round in brilliant fashion after lunch.

Birdies at the first two holes took him to eight under and two ahead of Donald, while Wentworth member Ross Fisher and Australian left-hander Richard Green were one further back.

Casey’s three-putt bogey at the seventh sparked him into life. Four birdies came in the next seven holes and although there were further birdies on the 16th and 18th each of those followed further bogeys.

“I had to get aggressive and it paid off,” Casey said. “I would love to defend the title successfully – I’ve never done it and that’s why I’m here.”

Westwood has missed the cut seven times at the tournament in the last nine years and a triple-bogey seven at the 15th in a 74 raised the possibility of extending that dreadful record.

He was unhappy with the inconsistency of the bunkers – he only just got out of one on the first, but on the 15th flew right over the green – but was fairly calm afterwards.

“I’ve gone from packing my suitcases and heading out to hanging around,” Westwood said. “That’s a positive move in the right direction.”