UNKNOWN HEROES: Lawrie, Drysdale put Wentworth heat on big three
WENTWORTH: IRELAND'S Peter Lawrie and Scotland's David Drysdale overshadowed the world's top-three players as they shared the lead on the first day of the PGA Championship at Wentworth on Thursday.
The pair, ranked 212th and 291st in the world respectively, shot six-under par 66s to lead the European Tour's flagship event after 18 holes and put Rory McIlory, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood in the shade.
World No 2 Donald was the pick of the big three with a four-under 68, one of a host of players on that mark, as he started the defence of the title he won in a dramatic play-off against Westwood last year.
Third-ranked Westwood started with a 70, two-under, which included a double bogey on the par-four third.
World No 1 McIlroy had a torrid time handing in a 74 after hitting his ball out of bounds with his second shot to the par-five 12th.
The frustrated Irishman hurled his club to the ground when his fourth shot found a bunker, but he managed to escape with a bogey although his mood did not improve when he double bogeyed the 16th.
Wales' Jamie Donaldson finished with a 67, one off the lead, in a tie for third place with England's Justin Rose, Swedish duo Niclas Fasth and Richard S Johnson and Alvaro Quiros of Spain.
Drysdale's 66 included a miracle shot to the last when his approach, hit with a hybrid, bounced in the water at the front of the green and bounced back out again landing around 30cm on dry land opposite the putting surface.
The Scot thought the ball was sunk until he was alerted by playing partner Damien McGrane and calmly got up and down over the water hazard to claim an unlikely birdie.
"You could hit a thousand balls into that water and it is never going to bounce out. I don't know how it came out," said Drysdale.
"It was incredible. I was trying to cut my second shot but I pulled it and it landed in the water and came out.
"It was a fantastic bit of luck. It was the total opposite of the shot I was trying to hit so I was pretty disappointed.
"I didn't play that well over the last four or five holes but I managed to get away with it."
Lawrie did not have a bogey on his card and was five-under at the turn before making a solitary birdie, at the par-four 11th on the way home. AFP
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