Danny Willett storms to top of leaderboard at BMW PGA Championship

The Sheffield golfer carded a seven under par round to move to -11 for the tournament, alongside Spain’s Jon Rahm, and two shots clear of the field.

Out early on Friday, Willett enjoyed a superb start with three birdies and an eagle on the first five holes.

“You’ve obviously got a couple of tricky holes at the start – one and three are no gimmies,” he said.

“It was one of those days really.

“We hit some good shots, holed some nice mid-range putts.

“I think with the wind picking up it’s probably good that you don’t expect it and just try to hit some good shots and see what it gives you.

“Fortunately today it gave us a good start.”

He added another three birdies to the card between nine and 12 with his charge only halted with a bogey on 14. His round could have been even better had a birdie putt on the last not come up agonisingly short.

But he has plenty to be satisfied about from a brilliant day at Wentworth.

The last time Willett led a tournament after 36 holes was in the same event three years ago.

He said: “I think it’s my tenth straight year here.

“I’ve had a couple of nice finishes.

“The game is in good shape and it has been for a while now.

“It’s nice to come back. The crowd have been amazing for two days. You get the good weather and the course is in great condition.

“This week, you’re going to have a really good leaderboard and fortunately we’ve put ourselves in a position to be right up there.”

Fellow Sheffield golfer Matt Fitzpatrick enjoyed a tumultuous day but looks to have done just enough to make the cut.

Fitzpatrick finished with a one under par 71 for the day to take him back to level par for the tournament.

After turning around still at one over, he put together consecutive birdies on 11 and 12.

But three bogeys in four holes – punctuated by a birdie – took him back down the leaderboard.

He did however birdie the last which allowed him a small amount of breathing space with the cut.