Alex Noren praises Rory McIlroy's second-round 65 at Wentworth
By Ali Stafford at Wentworth
Last Updated: 25/05/18 8:57pm
Alex Noren described Rory McIlroy’s second-round display at the BMW PGA Championship as the best he has ever seen, as the Northern Irishman moved top of the leaderboard.
The defending champion stayed in contention with a bogey-free 68 at Wentworth, only for McIlroy to overshadow his playing partner with a round-of-the-day 65.
McIlroy could have posted a lower round but missed five birdie chances from inside 10 feet on his first six holes and failed to pick up a shot on either of the closing par-fives, with Noren impressed by the world No 8's performance.
"That's the best round I've ever seen," Noren said about McIlroy. "I'm about to quit golf I think. It's hard to draw off of it when it's that good.
"I don't think I've ever seen anything like that. It's just shot after shot after shot. It's good to play with a guy like that because he keeps you on your toes and you might play better.
"Maybe that helped me today but it's almost like you put more pressure on yourself when he just hits before you or something like that. Obviously you shouldn't think about that but it's tough not to."
Noren struggled with his short irons but was still able to post four birdies to get to seven under, seeing the Swede head into the weekend within five shots of the lead.
"I scrambled very well," Noren added. "I hit a lot of kind of off-shots, but then I got it together, played better on the back nine. I hit more fairways, hit more greens, and kind of calmed down a bit.
"I'm really happy about seven under but not so happy about my long game. I played 11 or 12 decent holes and then a few very bad ones, but you know, my chipping kept me in play."
Watch the BMW PGA Championship throughout the weekend live on Sky Sports Golf. Live coverage continues on Saturday from 11.30am.
