Rory McIlroy misses cut at Wentworth but Luke Donald hits the roof

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/may/22/rory-mcilroy-wentworth-luke-donald-pga-championship

Version 0 of 1.

The leading event of the European Tour season will conclude without its star attraction. Rory McIlroy’s missing of the cut at the BMW PGA Championship perhaps is not much of a shock, given the fatigue displayed by the world No1 all week. Still, any event is a poorer place minus McIlroy, something that will not be lost on the organisers of a tournament already lacking some big names. The 26-year-old has prided himself on consistency over the past year, a quality that eluded him .

McIlroy signed for a second-round 78 and plus five aggregate that will afford him extra time to prepare for next week’s Irish Open at Royal County Down. Given the demands likely to be placed on McIlroy on home soil, there appears an element of cloud and silver lining there.

This marked McIlroy’s highest 18-hole score since the second day of the Scottish Open last July, where he carded an identical number. A run of four dropped shots from the 10th did irreparable damage. “I am obviously disappointed but a weekend off is probably what I need,” he said. “This will allow me to go to Royal County Down over the next few days and maybe play a few holes with nobody around.”

At 10 under par, Francesco Molinari remains the man to catch. He is seeking to become the second Italian in three years – Matteo Manassero won in 2013 – to triumph in the PGA Championship. “I know how hard I have been working over the last few months so it is nice to see that paying off on the course,” he said.

Luke Donald’s second 70 was notable as the Englishman looks to pin down the top‑60 world ranking place needed to secure a US Open berth. As a two-times winner here, Donald may well be inspired by familiarity. Equally striking, though, was Donald’s criticism of the greens. He is not, it has to be remembered, an isolated voice on this topic.

“They have gotten worse each year since they re-did them,” Donald said. “They don’t look very good on television, they putt OK, but there are a few putts out there that don’t stay on the line you hit them.

“If there was one championship that the greens should be pristine then this is it because this is our biggest event, our flagship event and they don’t putt as good as they should. I think the only way to fix them is to redo them again.

“I am not sure what the problem has been because there are other courses in this area with good greens. Maybe because it has so much traffic, I don’t know. I don’t want to criticise the greens staff as the rest of the course is pristine. I just think it’s a shame the greens aren’t quite as good as they should be for a tournament of this size.”

Justin Rose seemed equally unimpressed after his second-round 72. “I had a four-foot putt at the last and it looked easy on the TV, but that was different from the running commentary in my head,” said the former US Open champion.

“You don’t trust your read on these greens and it becomes mental. It is disappointing in the sense that the whole reason they changed the greens on this course was that if anyone had a six-foot putt on the last green on Sunday to win they would feel confident about holing it. You now can’t say for sure that will happen as they are not super true.”