Colin Montgomerie holds a four shot lead after a blistering second round of 65 in the Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth Club. The defending champion headed the field with a 12 under par total of 132, four shots ahead of Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke, Scot Andrew Coltart and Sweden's Robert Karlsson when play was suspended at 8.35pm. Due to heavy overnight rain the 13 matches left out on the course are due to resume their second rounds at 11am.
Montgomerie, bidding to become the first player ever to win the event three times in a row, started his second round superbly by birdieing four of the first five holes to reach the turn at nine under par. A birdie putt from ten feet at the par three tenth, followed by birdies at the 12th and 13th holes saw him reach 12 under.
The magnificent round could have been even better had the six foot birdie putt on the last not slipped past the edge. He said: “I didn’t get up and down at the last. Big deal. Let’s concentrate on the positives and there were a lot of them. It’s important that I concentrate on my own game and get on with it and try and beat everyone else.
“You know there is a lot of pressure on this. Expectation is very high and I suppose that’s self-inflicted. I put pressure on myself. At the same time there is a lot of pressure on me to do well and perform here and win three in a row.
“No-one’s ever achieved that before and there’s a reason for that. It must be difficult and to do what I’ve done the first two days, to score 67, 65 round here in very trying conditions is very good. To be 12 under par round here is a good effort over four rounds, never mind two”.
Playing in the same group as Montgomerie and Sergio Garcia, Clarke scored his second 68 of the championship. He said: “All three of us were chatting away for the two rounds. We really enjoyed each other’s company. Sergio and I just kept asking each other what course he (Montgomerie) was playing.”
Clarke finished his rain-delayed first round with an eagle at the 18th in the morning and followed it with an eagle at the 17th in the afternoon. He said: “I’ve played the last two holes well so hopefully that will stand me in good stead.”
Coltart joined Clarke on eight under after shooting a second round 69. Two birdies and a bogey on the front nine were accompanied by three birdies and a bogey on the back.
He said: “There’s a long way to go. I’m playing nicely. I’m surprised the scores are so low the first two rounds given the conditions we’ve played in. Normally what wins round here is 15 or 16 under. The way Monty is setting the pace here at the moment it looks like he could go through that record. If I can keep playing the way I am then hopefully the opportunity will present itself on Monday.
“The greens are lovely. When you consider the amount of rain they have had even last weekend right through to now. I gather the guys were working through the night. I think they are fantastic and they are going to get a lot of credit for that.”
They were joined late in the day on eight under by Karlsson after a round of 69, three under par.
Video Highlights from Saturday
