A second successive 68 on Friday enabled Luke Donald to take the lead at the halfway stage of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Ryder Cup star shoots second successive 68 to take one-shot lead
A second successive 68 on Friday enabled Luke Donald to take over at the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
The Ryder Cup star moved on to a six-under-par total with his consistency taking him one shot clear of first-round leader Danny Willett (72), a third Englishman in Ross Fisher (70) and South Africa's James Kingston (69).
Donald has so far had only one bogey in 36 holes - and his five on the 12th would have been a par prior to the much-discussed changes to the West Course undertaken by Ernie Els and owner Richard Caring.
The debate continued on Friday, with the South African star angry after some colleagues criticised alterations to the layout in the media.
Caring himself has taken the blame for the green at the par five 18th - "Ernie was right, I was wrong," he said before promising to make any further changes deemed necessary - but Els has been stung by the criticism.
World number three Lee Westwood has aired various suggestions on how to change the controversial finish, while defending champion Paul Casey even mentioned the possibility of "protection orders" on certain courses.
Disappointed
"I would love for people to come to me personally rather than go to newspapers and tell their side of the story," said Els, who nevertheless remains in the hunt on three under after a 70 on Friday.
"Nobody knows exactly what's gone on here and I'd like to explain to players before they go to the media.
"Today I felt very disappointed by everything that's been said and kind of hurt a little bit. But, you know, you've got to be man enough and stand up and take it on the chin.
"This golf course is something for the future. Richard Caring didn't want 18 under winning and I think he succeeded in that.
"Hopefully, if he's willing to spend more money (over £6million has gone in already), we can rectify the things that I'm not happy with."
One player happy with the changes is, perhaps understandably, Donald.
"I think the reason why it suits me is because you kind of have to plot your way around a little bit more now," he said.
Without a win in Europe for six years, Donald is taking a three-week break from the US Tour to try to boost his prospects of regaining his Ryder Cup spot.
Wrist surgery kept him out last time and captain Colin Montgomerie, himself level par in the championship he has won three times, knows what an asset Donald could be in October.
"I'm delighted he's made an effort to come over and to come to Wales (Celtic Manor also hosts the Welsh Open in a fortnight's time)," the Scot said. "I think that's a big tick in his column."
In the hunt
Casey (68) is very much in the hunt on four under alongside Padraig Harrington (67), Chris Wood (68) and Fredrik Andersson Hed (70).
One shot further back lies Els, whose second attempt to find the green in two at the 539-yard 18th proved rather more successful than his first.
Thursday saw him launching a five-wood into the water but 24 hours later a massive drive left him needing only a seven-iron in.
Even so, Els could not make what would only have been the second eagle of the week there.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Spaniard Pablo Martin took a 10 at the last while Spanish Open champion Alvaro Quiros had a quintuple bogey 10 at the 17th.
However, the dubious honour of the biggest score of the day went to Portugal's Jose-Filipe Lima, who put three balls in the water on the 391-yard eighth, another of the altered holes, and walked off with an 11.
Westwood (74) had a triple bogey seven on the 15th and Rory McIlroy (69) a six at the same hole but, standing two and one over respectively, both could yet prove contenders.
