Andy DevaneyRyan Gerard spent most of Friday playing the patient game at Wentworth. Then an eagle-birdie finish transformed a fine round into the outright BMW PGA Championship lead.
Gerard did not spend Friday afternoon trying to wrestle Wentworth into submission. He spent most of it refusing to do anything daft, which is often the more useful skill around the West Course.
Then, with two holes left, he stopped being patient.
An eagle-birdie finish across Wentworth’s famous closing par fives completed a bogey-free 65, took Gerard to 12 under and gave the American a two-shot lead at the halfway point of the BMW PGA Championship.
He had begun the day one behind. He reached the final pair two behind. By the time he walked off the 18th, everybody else had acquired a Gerard problem.
Gerard saves his best for the finish
Gerard’s second round contained five birdies and an eagle, but the card is almost misleading in its neatness. Conditions were awkward enough for the World Number 21 to spend much of the afternoon choosing where not to be heroic.
“Just a really, really solid day of golf. Conditions at times were pretty difficult with the wind picking up. Wentworth is not easy with some of these pin locations they like to stick us with during the tournament.”
That assessment matched the way he played. Four shots gained through his first 13 holes kept him in touch rather than sending him charging clear. The decisive move came at the end: eagle, then birdie, and suddenly a crowded leaderboard had a little daylight at the top.
Gerard’s explanation was less glamorous than the finish, and considerably more useful. “You’ve just got to be really patient, pick your spots, and do a good job. If you get out of position, take your medicine and hit the shot that needs to be hit and not try to force the issue.”
There are worse recipes for Wentworth.
Familiar shapes, better preparation
This is Gerard’s second appearance in the event after finishing tied 38th on debut last year, and he believes familiarity is beginning to matter.
“I think the course looks very similar to courses that I’ve grown up on, and I feel very comfortable with a lot of the tee shots and angles and things like that.”
He also arrives with rather more status than he did 12 months ago. Victory at last season’s Barracuda Championship earned him DP World Tour membership, and this weekend now offers the possibility of a first Rolex Series title.
The comfort is not merely visual. Gerard said he has been driving the ball and hitting his woods well throughout the year, and Wentworth’s tee shots suit his eye. That does not make the place easy; it simply means he appears to know which questions he likes answering.
Scott’s six-birdie burst keeps him close
Adam Scott and Filippo Celli set the early target at ten under, both doing enough in the morning wave to make Gerard’s late acceleration necessary.
Scott’s 67 came after an unpromising start. Beginning at the ninth, he opened with four pars and a bogey before a birdie at the par-three 14th triggered six consecutive birdies. Two more gains and two bogeys followed on the way home.
“I’m pleased. I’m really pleased with it, actually. Early start, a quick turnaround. Took me a couple holes to kind of find the rhythm, certainly on the greens, anyway. Then I got going.”
For Scott, the attraction of this particular weekend is hardly minor. He put the BMW PGA Championship alongside THE PLAYERS Championship and the Australian Open among the events he most wants outside the majors. In his 11th Wentworth appearance, he is still chasing a first Rolex Series victory.
Celli keeps the arithmetic simple
Celli’s 66 was steadier in shape and equally effective. The Italian made four birdies and one bogey over his opening nine, then birdied each of the three par fives on the back nine.
At ten under after 36 holes, the 26-year-old is two off the lead and searching for his first victory on the DP World Tour in his 67th start. He is also making a determined effort not to behave as though Sunday has arrived two days early.
“I honestly don’t think about that (winning). As I said, I just try to think about the present and play good golf, and then we will see.”
That approach has some assistance from a putter he says is finally beginning to reward the work being done.
A leaderboard with very little breathing room
Manuel Elvira’s 66 lifted him into a share of fourth at nine under alongside Aaron Rai, while JJ Spaun, Nacho Elvira, Ross Fisher, Rory McIlroy and Ryan Fox sit another shot back.
Rai described the wind as “really tricky” and took particular satisfaction from finishing with two birdies. The crowds, helped by a group containing McIlroy and Fox, supplied plenty of noise around a leaderboard that remains compact enough to discourage anyone from getting sentimental about a Friday lead.
Gerard, for his part, seems to have found the right emotional setting. He spoke afterwards about remembering why he plays the game at all, particularly when bad shots begin to irritate.
“I dreamed of playing golf growing up, and this is my dream.”
At Wentworth on Friday, the dream came with a 65, an eagle-birdie finish and a two-shot cushion. The difficult bit begins now.
