Friday 27 May 2016 10:26, UK
Danny Willett bounced back impressively from his poor finish in Ireland last week as a flawless 66 left him one shot off the lead after a low-scoring opening day of the BMW PGA Championship.
Willett made six birdies and kept a bogey off his card in a composed round, his first on home soil since his Masters victory last month, as Scott Hend, YE Yang and Joost Luiten ended the day tied for the lead on seven under.
The Sheffield ace was battling Rory McIlroy for the lead midway through last week's Irish Open, but he failed to make any birdies over his last 32 holes and slipped 11 shots behind the champion when he dropped five shots in four holes down the stretch on the final day.
Willett described his performance as "stale", but he clearly enjoyed playing in front of his home fans as he rolled in an early birdie putt at the second and picked up further shots at the sixth and eighth to turn in 32.
The Augusta champion got to four under when he converted an excellent tee shot to the 10th, and he continued to shine on the short holes as he carded his third birdie-two of the day with a 10-foot putt at the 14th.
Willett did well to get up and down for another gain at 17, and he got away with a blocked drive at the last and closed with a cast-iron par to return the only bogey-free round on day one at Wentworth.
Hend raced out of the blocks with a run of four birdies in six holes from the second, and the Australian reeled off three more in four holes immediately after the turn.
The veteran, winner of the True Thailand Classic title in March, made his only mistake of the round at the 15th, although he got the shot straight back at the next and parred in to set the early clubhouse target.
"I tried aggressive last year and it really doesn't work here," said Hend, who missed the cut on his debut in the tournament last year.
"So I thought I'd just be a little bit cautious off the tee and a bit more aggressive into the greens. We'll see how that plays out during the week."
Hend soon had company at the top when 2009 USPGA champion Yang hit back from an opening bogey with three birdies in four holes from the fourth and, after further gains at 12 and 13, he also birdied the last two to cap an excellent 65.
Luiten also bogeyed the first before rolling in five birdies over the next seven holes to turn in 31, and he maintained his momentum on the back nine as he roared into a share of the lead with birdies at 12, 13 and 15.
The Dutchman took a step back with a bogey at 16, but he flushed his second to the last and two-putted from the rear fringe for his ninth birdie of the day to make it a three-way tie at the top.
With Willett on his own at six under, Robert Rock was a further shot back despite making a double-bogey six at the 13th, and the Englishman shared fifth with Richard Green and Jaco Van Zyl.
Two-time champion Luke Donald continued his encouraging recent form as he returned a solid six-birdie 68, while Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell were among a large group of players to fire a 69.
