South Korean's late 64 cuts Molinari lead to
one shot at Wentworth halfway
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Francesco Molinari birdied the final two holes for the second day running to maintain his position at the top of the leaderboard at the BMW PGA Championship with a three under par round of 69, but a sublime 64 from South Korea’s Byeong Hun An late in the day reduced the Italian’s lead to one shot.
Molinari, who has finished in the top ten in each of the past three years at Wentworth Club, followed his flawless opening round of 65 by dropping two shots in the first three holes of his second round, but hit back strongly with five birdies to move to ten under par for the tournament.
The round of the day belonged to South Korean rookie An, who opened with five birdies in his first seven holes, before picking up three more shots on the back nine to surge through the field and into second place on nine under par.
Argentine Emiliano Grillo posted two eagles on the back nine - on the 12th and 18th holes – in a seven under par round of 65 to sit two shots back in a share of third place with Thongchai Jaidee at the halfway mark.
Thai Jaidee carded six birdies in his bogey-free round of 66, while a shot further back is Englishman James Morrison, winner of last week’s Open de España, who continued his good form with a round of 66 to lie three shots off the pace in fifth position.
Key player quotes
Francesco Molinari – 69 (-10 total)
“I'm really happy. The start is really tricky, with the first three holes. I think I played them okay. My chipping wasn't good enough on the first and on the third to save par. I managed to steady the ship and made a few birdies coming in at the end, so it is a good day.
“I enjoy playing here. I've played well the last few years. There's a bit of good Italian karma here with (Costantino) Rocca winning and Matteo (Manassero) winning a few years ago.”
Byeong Hun An – 64 (-9 total)
“It is definitely one of my best round. I hit 17 greens, and the missed green, it was a good shot, but just missed the green. I hit it really solid today. I didn't have any putts over 30 feet to be honest and every putt was a birdie chance. I still missed a couple out there, but the score, eight under, is pretty good.”
Emiliano Grillo – 65 (-8 total)
“I've been hitting it well. My stats for the last four years, I’ve been on the Top‑10 in greens in regulation, and I knew that the only thing I needed to adjust was the putting and I've been working a lot on that and it's been paying off.”
Thongchai Jaidee – 66 (-8 total)
“The key was putting so well today. You can see the score is quite low today. I made only one mistake today on the 11th hole. I cannot complain about the round. I haven’t putted well like this in a long time. That's why we have 66 today.”
SECOND ROUND SCORES
Par 144 (2x72)
134 F Molinari (Ita) 65 69
135 B An (SKor) 71 64,
136 T Jaidee (Tha) 70 66, E Grillo (Arg) 71 65,
137 J Morrison (Eng) 71 66,
138 R Karlsson (Swe) 67 71, M Jiménez (Esp) 68 70,
139 J Luiten (Ned) 72 67, A Noren (Swe) 72 67, I Garrido (Esp) 71 68
140 T Fleetwood (Eng) 69 71, L Donald (Eng) 70 70, V Dubuisson (Fra) 71 69, T Bjørn (Den) 69 71, S Kjeldsen (Den) 71 69, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 74 66,
141 O Farr (Wal) 72 69, A Levy (Fra) 70 71, G Havret (Fra) 70 71, C Wood (Eng) 68 73, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 72 69, B Grace (RSA) 73 68, S Lowry (Irl) 74 67, D Lipsky (USA) 75 66,
142 D Willett (Eng) 71 71, A Quiros (Esp) 74 68, M Warren (Sco) 68 74, G Coetzee (RSA) 72 70, S Jamieson (Sco) 74 68, J Quesne (Fra) 72 70, B Dredge (Wal) 71 71, G Storm (Eng) 78 64, N Colsaerts (Bel) 69 73, Y Yang (SKor) 68 74, M Carlsson (Swe) 72 70,
143 F Aguilar (Chi) 70 73, A Cañizares (Esp) 72 71, A Hansen (Den) 74 69, M Lundberg (Swe) 75 68, R Green (Aus) 72 71, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 73 70, R Finch (Eng) 73 70, C Doak (Sco) 72 71, B Koepka (USA) 75 68, J Palmer (Eng) 71 72, J Rose (Eng) 71 72, M Fraser (Aus) 73 70, J Donaldson (Wal) 70 73, H Otto (RSA) 74 69, M Kaymer (Ger) 72 71, A Sullivan (Eng) 71 72,
144 P Uihlein (USA) 76 68, E Pepperell (Eng) 72 72, D McGrane (Irl) 70 74, T Hatton (Eng) 73 71, J Singh (Ind) 72 72, M Kieffer (Ger) 73 71, T Aiken (RSA) 74 70, P Lawrie (Irl) 69 75, G Stal (Fra) 74 70, A Lahiri (Ind) 72 72,
145 T Lewis (Eng) 72 73, M Manassero (Ita) 75 70, G McDowell (Nir) 74 71, L Westwood (Eng) 72 73, G Bourdy (Fra) 72 73, E Els (RSA) 72 73, I Ellis (Eng) 70 75, D Van Der Walt (RSA) 73 72, P Meesawat (Tha) 71 74, P Hanson (Swe) 72 73, J Campillo (Esp) 68 77, R Wattel (Fra) 74 71, N Fasth (Swe) 76 69, D Clarke (Nir) 74 71, J Van Zyl (RSA) 74 71,
MISSED THE CUT
146 J Lando Casanova (Fra) 69 77, S Drummond (Sco) 75 71, K Broberg (Swe) 73 73, M Tullo (Chi) 72 74, E Espana (Fra) 72 74, R Fisher (Eng) 73 73, N Kearney (Irl) 72 74, M Nixon (Eng) 76 70, M Crespi (Ita) 79 67, M Siem (Ger) 74 72, L Bjerregaard (Den) 75 71, S Hutsby (Eng) 72 74, S Hansen (Den) 71 75,
147 D Horsey (Eng) 74 73, D Howell (Eng) 76 71, R Ramsay (Sco) 71 76, J Roos (RSA) 75 72, S Kapur (Ind) 70 77, L Hao-Tong (Chn) 74 73, M Cort (Eng) 74 73, P Larrazábal (Esp) 69 78, G Hutcheon (Sco) 72 75, F Zanotti (Par) 73 74,
148 J Carlsson (Swe) 76 72, S Khan (Eng) 74 74, S Chawrasia (Ind) 73 75, M Ford (Eng) 76 72, O Fisher (Eng) 73 75, M Madsen (Den) 76 72,
149 J Kruger (RSA) 76 73, R McIlroy (Nir) 71 78,
150 R Rock (Eng) 72 78, B Barham (Eng) 79 71, M Lampert (Ger) 79 71, R Jacquelin (Fra) 76 74, C Gane (Eng) 75 75, W Ormsby (Aus) 73 77, M Hoey (Nir) 75 75, R Bland (Eng) 73 77, T Olesen (Den) 75 75, M Ilonen (Fin) 75 75,
151 G Mulroy (RSA) 74 77, D Fichardt (RSA) 74 77, J Levermore (Eng) 78 73, B Wiesberger (Aut) 77 74, S Hend (Aus) 72 79, A Johnston (Eng) 77 74, B Rumford (Aus) 72 79, B Hebert (Fra) 81 70
152 T Pieters (Bel) 72 80, D Brooks (Eng) 79 73, M Baldwin (Eng) 76 76, A Dodt (Aus) 77 75,
153 R O'Hanlon (Eng) 79 74, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 79 74, R Gonzalez (Arg) 77 76, S Benson (Eng) 77 76, D Dixon (Eng) 77 76,
154 R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 77 77, F Fritsch (Ger) 76 78, J Barnes (Eng) 73 81, S Webster (Eng) 81 73,
155 A Belt (Eng) 77 78, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 79 76,
156 L Slattery (Eng) 81 75, O Wilson (Eng) 79 77, R Paratore (Ita) 80 76, M Foster (Eng) 81 75,
168 J Jeong (SKor) 85 83
Withdrew - P Lawrie (Scotland) 79 wd
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
one shot at Wentworth halfway
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Francesco Molinari birdied the final two holes for the second day running to maintain his position at the top of the leaderboard at the BMW PGA Championship with a three under par round of 69, but a sublime 64 from South Korea’s Byeong Hun An late in the day reduced the Italian’s lead to one shot.
Molinari, who has finished in the top ten in each of the past three years at Wentworth Club, followed his flawless opening round of 65 by dropping two shots in the first three holes of his second round, but hit back strongly with five birdies to move to ten under par for the tournament.
The round of the day belonged to South Korean rookie An, who opened with five birdies in his first seven holes, before picking up three more shots on the back nine to surge through the field and into second place on nine under par.
Argentine Emiliano Grillo posted two eagles on the back nine - on the 12th and 18th holes – in a seven under par round of 65 to sit two shots back in a share of third place with Thongchai Jaidee at the halfway mark.
Thai Jaidee carded six birdies in his bogey-free round of 66, while a shot further back is Englishman James Morrison, winner of last week’s Open de España, who continued his good form with a round of 66 to lie three shots off the pace in fifth position.
Key player quotes
Francesco Molinari – 69 (-10 total)
“I'm really happy. The start is really tricky, with the first three holes. I think I played them okay. My chipping wasn't good enough on the first and on the third to save par. I managed to steady the ship and made a few birdies coming in at the end, so it is a good day.
“I enjoy playing here. I've played well the last few years. There's a bit of good Italian karma here with (Costantino) Rocca winning and Matteo (Manassero) winning a few years ago.”
Byeong Hun An – 64 (-9 total)
“It is definitely one of my best round. I hit 17 greens, and the missed green, it was a good shot, but just missed the green. I hit it really solid today. I didn't have any putts over 30 feet to be honest and every putt was a birdie chance. I still missed a couple out there, but the score, eight under, is pretty good.”
Emiliano Grillo – 65 (-8 total)
“I've been hitting it well. My stats for the last four years, I’ve been on the Top‑10 in greens in regulation, and I knew that the only thing I needed to adjust was the putting and I've been working a lot on that and it's been paying off.”
Thongchai Jaidee – 66 (-8 total)
“The key was putting so well today. You can see the score is quite low today. I made only one mistake today on the 11th hole. I cannot complain about the round. I haven’t putted well like this in a long time. That's why we have 66 today.”
SECOND ROUND SCORES
Par 144 (2x72)
134 F Molinari (Ita) 65 69
135 B An (SKor) 71 64,
136 T Jaidee (Tha) 70 66, E Grillo (Arg) 71 65,
137 J Morrison (Eng) 71 66,
138 R Karlsson (Swe) 67 71, M Jiménez (Esp) 68 70,
139 J Luiten (Ned) 72 67, A Noren (Swe) 72 67, I Garrido (Esp) 71 68
140 T Fleetwood (Eng) 69 71, L Donald (Eng) 70 70, V Dubuisson (Fra) 71 69, T Bjørn (Den) 69 71, S Kjeldsen (Den) 71 69, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 74 66,
141 O Farr (Wal) 72 69, A Levy (Fra) 70 71, G Havret (Fra) 70 71, C Wood (Eng) 68 73, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 72 69, B Grace (RSA) 73 68, S Lowry (Irl) 74 67, D Lipsky (USA) 75 66,
142 D Willett (Eng) 71 71, A Quiros (Esp) 74 68, M Warren (Sco) 68 74, G Coetzee (RSA) 72 70, S Jamieson (Sco) 74 68, J Quesne (Fra) 72 70, B Dredge (Wal) 71 71, G Storm (Eng) 78 64, N Colsaerts (Bel) 69 73, Y Yang (SKor) 68 74, M Carlsson (Swe) 72 70,
143 F Aguilar (Chi) 70 73, A Cañizares (Esp) 72 71, A Hansen (Den) 74 69, M Lundberg (Swe) 75 68, R Green (Aus) 72 71, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 73 70, R Finch (Eng) 73 70, C Doak (Sco) 72 71, B Koepka (USA) 75 68, J Palmer (Eng) 71 72, J Rose (Eng) 71 72, M Fraser (Aus) 73 70, J Donaldson (Wal) 70 73, H Otto (RSA) 74 69, M Kaymer (Ger) 72 71, A Sullivan (Eng) 71 72,
144 P Uihlein (USA) 76 68, E Pepperell (Eng) 72 72, D McGrane (Irl) 70 74, T Hatton (Eng) 73 71, J Singh (Ind) 72 72, M Kieffer (Ger) 73 71, T Aiken (RSA) 74 70, P Lawrie (Irl) 69 75, G Stal (Fra) 74 70, A Lahiri (Ind) 72 72,
145 T Lewis (Eng) 72 73, M Manassero (Ita) 75 70, G McDowell (Nir) 74 71, L Westwood (Eng) 72 73, G Bourdy (Fra) 72 73, E Els (RSA) 72 73, I Ellis (Eng) 70 75, D Van Der Walt (RSA) 73 72, P Meesawat (Tha) 71 74, P Hanson (Swe) 72 73, J Campillo (Esp) 68 77, R Wattel (Fra) 74 71, N Fasth (Swe) 76 69, D Clarke (Nir) 74 71, J Van Zyl (RSA) 74 71,
MISSED THE CUT
146 J Lando Casanova (Fra) 69 77, S Drummond (Sco) 75 71, K Broberg (Swe) 73 73, M Tullo (Chi) 72 74, E Espana (Fra) 72 74, R Fisher (Eng) 73 73, N Kearney (Irl) 72 74, M Nixon (Eng) 76 70, M Crespi (Ita) 79 67, M Siem (Ger) 74 72, L Bjerregaard (Den) 75 71, S Hutsby (Eng) 72 74, S Hansen (Den) 71 75,
147 D Horsey (Eng) 74 73, D Howell (Eng) 76 71, R Ramsay (Sco) 71 76, J Roos (RSA) 75 72, S Kapur (Ind) 70 77, L Hao-Tong (Chn) 74 73, M Cort (Eng) 74 73, P Larrazábal (Esp) 69 78, G Hutcheon (Sco) 72 75, F Zanotti (Par) 73 74,
148 J Carlsson (Swe) 76 72, S Khan (Eng) 74 74, S Chawrasia (Ind) 73 75, M Ford (Eng) 76 72, O Fisher (Eng) 73 75, M Madsen (Den) 76 72,
149 J Kruger (RSA) 76 73, R McIlroy (Nir) 71 78,
150 R Rock (Eng) 72 78, B Barham (Eng) 79 71, M Lampert (Ger) 79 71, R Jacquelin (Fra) 76 74, C Gane (Eng) 75 75, W Ormsby (Aus) 73 77, M Hoey (Nir) 75 75, R Bland (Eng) 73 77, T Olesen (Den) 75 75, M Ilonen (Fin) 75 75,
151 G Mulroy (RSA) 74 77, D Fichardt (RSA) 74 77, J Levermore (Eng) 78 73, B Wiesberger (Aut) 77 74, S Hend (Aus) 72 79, A Johnston (Eng) 77 74, B Rumford (Aus) 72 79, B Hebert (Fra) 81 70
152 T Pieters (Bel) 72 80, D Brooks (Eng) 79 73, M Baldwin (Eng) 76 76, A Dodt (Aus) 77 75,
153 R O'Hanlon (Eng) 79 74, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 79 74, R Gonzalez (Arg) 77 76, S Benson (Eng) 77 76, D Dixon (Eng) 77 76,
154 R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 77 77, F Fritsch (Ger) 76 78, J Barnes (Eng) 73 81, S Webster (Eng) 81 73,
155 A Belt (Eng) 77 78, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 79 76,
156 L Slattery (Eng) 81 75, O Wilson (Eng) 79 77, R Paratore (Ita) 80 76, M Foster (Eng) 81 75,
168 J Jeong (SKor) 85 83
Withdrew - P Lawrie (Scotland) 79 wd
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Labels: EUROPEAN TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Friday, May 22, 2015
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