BMW PGA Championship report: Jon Rahm moves into share of lead after 67

Leaderboard

-11 Rahm, Willett

-9 Bezuidenhout, Rose, Stenson

-7 Horschel, Casey

Day two report

Jon Rahm made an ominous move to the top of the BMW PGA Championship leaderboard with a closing eagle in a second-round 67.

The Spaniard finished his first round with a flourish and did the same on Friday, unleashing a rocket of a three-wood to 12 feet at the par-five closing hole and making the putt to reach 11-under.

On the day which saw Jose Maria Olazabal wave goodbye to the Wentworth crowds, Rahm hinted that he might be ready to keep up Spain's deep association with the event and he enters the weekend a strong favourite.

It had been a slow start as Rahm bogeyed the first and second holes, but bar a blemish at the 10th the world number six was otherwise flawless as he closes in on yet another title in what's just his third full year as a professional.

Already, the brilliant youngster has four European Tour victories to his name despite being based on the PGA Tour, and a fifth here would see him take over from Shane Lowry at the top of the Race to Dubai standings.

"I didn't really miss any shots," said the 24-year-old, who won the Irish Open for a second time in July. "I started hitting it closer and made a couple of putts.

"It was great to finish with a three, arguably to one of the most difficult pins to hit it close to.

"It all starts with being smart off the tee. I'm hitting it really good, I'm giving myself chances."

Rahm's grandstand finish saw him draw level with Danny Willett, who moved into the lead with four birdies and an eagle over the opening five holes and was eight-under for the day through 12.

With the closing holes playing largely into wind, Willett was unable to push on towards the course record, which stands at 62, and instead was one-over for the final six and tied with Rahm.

"I wouldn't say I'm back to my best," said the 2016 Masters champion.

"We're still working on the moves and there's still shots in there that I don't like. But the body is night and day to where it was, the ability to travel around the world and play golf is back and I'm just in a much better place with everything.

"This weekend you're going to have a real good leaderboard and we've put ourselves in a position to be right up there."

A bogey-free 67 saw Christiaan Bezuidenhout continue his fine course debut on nine-under, where he's joined by Justin Rose following a tidy 68 in which his sole bogey came at the tricky 16th.

Billy Horschel carded a bogey-free 65, matching Willett's round, to move to seven-under and four back. The American saved par in remarkable fashion at the eighth, holing out from the drop zone, and capitalised by keeping his card clean to the clubhouse.

His 36-hole total was matched by Paul Casey, who added a second-round 69 to Thursday's 68 to keep the leaders within his sights.

As Rory McIlroy battled hard for a three-under 69 which saw him make the weekend, the only player with an early-late draw to crack the top five was Henrik Stenson, the Swede having matched McIlroy's round to join his friend Rose on nine-under.

Viktor Hovland eagled the 12th hole as he broke 70 again - that's his 19th consecutive sub-70 round across the PGA and European Tours, a sequence which was broken when he played in one event on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Hovland, bidding to make an early Ryder Cup impression, enters the weekend in a share of eighth with Shubhankar Sharma, Andrew Putnam and Tony Finau, but it's Rahm and Willett who lead the way.