Friday 22 May 2015 20:36, UK
Emiliano Grillo finished with a flourish as he made huge strides up the leaderboard on the second day of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Overnight leader Francesco Molinari maintained first place after recovering from a rocky start to card five birdies in a 69 that got him to 10 under, but Grillo had two eagles on the back nine as he vaulted into a share of third place - two shots behind the Italian - with a sparkling 65.
The in-form Argentine holed out from a bunker for a three at the 12th, but there was no luck required for his eagle at the last after he smote a stunning second from 255 yards to within inches of the hole, leaving a tap-in to lift him to eight under a the halfway stage.
"It's my first time making the cut in this tournament and I'm really happy," said Grillo, who has finished 11th, third and sixth in his last three European Tour starts. "I knew coming here I did not have any good rounds so to shoot 65 round here is pretty good.
"I am enjoying the moment and playing well and being in contention is what I need. If I keep knocking someone is going to open the door.
"I've been looking for a win since I turned pro and it's going to come soon. There's a lot going on when you are in contention and you have to be prepared. Playing well definitely pushes the confidence up and it's nice to be on the leaderboard every week.
"This is a big week, the flagship event of the European Tour and it would be great to win."
Rocky start for Molinari
Molinari was delighted to recover from a poor start, seeing his overnight two-shot lead vanish with bogeys at the first and third before he balanced the books with birdies at four and six.
Following a run of seven straight pars, the Italian also birdied the 14th, 17th and 18th for the second day running to set the early clubhouse target which kept him in front throughout the day, although South Korean Byeong-Hun An closed to within a shot of him with a 64.
"I'm really happy," he said. "The start is really tricky the first three holes. I think I played them okay. My chipping wasn't good enough on the first and on the third to save par. I managed to steady the ship and made a few birdies coming in at the end, so a good day.
"Obviously I'm delighted to have gone a little bit further under par from yesterday and just need to keep doing the same. I know how hard I've been working the last few months, so it's nice to see that it's paying off on the course."
