DP World Tour : BMW PGA Championship Leaderboard
Matthew Baldwin consolidated his strong start with a brilliant -6 66 to sit two shots clear after the second day of the weather-affected BMW PGA Championship.
The Englishman was one of two players - the other was Frenchman Jeong weon Ko - to keep a clean card during Thursday's opening round of 65 to top the leaderboard and he continued his fine form on Friday.
He rolled in six birdies and just one bogey - his only dropped shot of the tournament so far - through 16 holes before the threat of lightning suspended play after he had teed off at the penultimate hole.
But not even a delay of an hour and 17 minutes could distract the 38-year-old as he immediately added another gain at the 17th to set the clubhouse target of 13 under, which equalled the tournament record set by Paul McGinley in 2008.
Niklas Nørgaard, who won his maiden DP World Tour title at the Betfred British Masters earlier this month, carded an eagle, four birdies and a bogey to reach 11 under and become the closest challenger.
"Incredibly pleased. Incredibly proud of how I've played so far," Baldwin said. "There's a long way to go. Keep doing the same things, should be a good week.
"Just playing sensible golf, really, I guess. I'm trying not to hit it too close, which obviously then forces you, sometimes you can get short-sided and things like that.
"I think my putting has been very good. Mentally I've been very good. I have a tendency to get in my own way. So I allowed myself to hit good golf shots and good putts and things like that has been great."
"I learned a lot from that. I learned that there are other things that I could do in life, but I also learned that I really wanted to play golf."
Nørgaard was flawless on the front nine with birdies at the first, fifth and sixth before he produced a stunning approach at the par-five 12th to six feet for an eagle to become Baldwin's closest rival.
A bogey followed at the 14th, but he got on the par-five last in two for a tap-in birdie to sit two shots adrift of the leading Englishman.
Frenchman Antoine Rozner birdied six of the last seven holes, including five in a row to finish his round, to catapult himself into third at ten under following his 65.
Rory McIlroy was one shot back alongside Italian Matteo Manassero, Horschel was in sixth at eight under, while Canada's Aaron Cockerill, Scot Robert MacIntyre, Germany's Yannik Paul and English trio Tommy Fleetwood, Harry Hall and Oliver Wilson remained in contention at -7
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
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