Saturday 28 May 2016 18:28, UK
Danny Willett will go into the weekend of the BMW Championship tied for the lead despite undoing a record front-nine with a scrappy finish to his second round 68.
Willett appeared on course to run away with the tournament when he became the first player in tournament history to cover the outward half in just 29 strokes, but he dropped his first shot of the week at the 10th and stumbled to three bogeys in a row from the 15th.
But a closing birdie got him back to 10 under par, a score that was later matched when Scott Hend eagled the last for a 69, while YE Yang was also three under for the day as he made it a three-way share of the lead.
Willett had opened up a five-shot lead over the field at the turn when he followed two opening pars with a remarkable run of six birdies over the next seven holes which lifted him to 12 under.
The Masters champion looked primed to break Paul McGinley's 36-hole scoring record of 13 under, but a poor tee-shot to the short 10th set him back and, after making a two at 14 for the second day running, he bogeyed the next three.
He appeared irritated when his group were warned for slow play on the back nine, and he also narrowly avoided a two-shot penalty on the 17th when his sunglasses almost fell on his ball.
Willett went on to take six, but he responded positively as he got home in two at the last and two-putted for his eighth birdie of the day to claim the early clubhouse lead.
Hend got to 10 under when he birdied 12 and 13, but the Australian veteran gave both shots back at 15 and 16 before he staged a rousing finish, knocking his second to the fringe of the green and holing a 25-foot putt for a superb eagle.
Former US PGA champion Yang was level par after 11 holes before vaulting into a share of the lead with an eagle at 12 followed by a birdie at the 14th, but he made a mess of the 17th and chunked a chip with his fourth shot and missing the par putt from 15 feet.
But the South Korean also birdied 18 to salvage a 69, while Jaco Van Zyl emerged as the closest challenger to the leading trio when he birdied 17 and 18 to cap a flawless, inward 33 and a 68 which lifted him to nine under.
Joost Luiten got to nine under with birdies at the second and fourth, but he gave both back in consecutive holes and, after another birdie at 12, he dropped three straight shots from the 14th and could only par in to stay at five under.
Former Ryder Cup star Peter Hanson and Englishman Robert Dinwiddie are also five off the pace heading into the weekend, while two-time champion Luke Donald is a further shot back after he endured a frustrating day on the greens in his 72.
Two-time major champion Martin Kaymer is alongside Donald at four under after the German birdied three of the last five holes to return a 70, and Lee Westwood fired an erratic 70 - including two chip-ins - which left him seven shots adrift.
Shot of the day went to Scott Jamieson, who made a hole in one at the 10th - the first of his European Tour career - to earn himself a new BMW M2 worth £40,000.
But 2014 runner-up Shane Lowry, who started the week as joint-favourite with Willett, crashed out after a disastrous closing stretch in which he five-putted the 15th green for a seven and then took six at the next as he slumped to a 78.
