by England’s Matt Baldwin set himself a daunting clubhouse target on the weather-affected second day of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Baldwin, who held a one-shot lead overnight, added a second-round 66 to his opening 65 for a mid-round total of 13 under par, tying the tournament record set by Paul McGinley in 2008 .
That gave Baldwin a three-shot lead over Frenchman Antoine Rozner, who birdied six of his last seven holes – and the last five in a row – to return a bogey-free 65.
Play was suspended for 77 minutes due to the threat of lightning shortly before noon, with Baldwin having just holed out from 25 feet for par on the 16th before the siren sounded.
The 38-year-old won his first DP World Tour title in South Africa last year, but admitted he considered quitting the game on several occasions as he struggled to retain his card.
“I worked three or four months at Amazon driving a van just to get through the winter before the Challenge Tour started in 2022,” said Baldwin, who got his card in 2017 during his sixth visit to the qualifying school.
“I learned a lot from it. I learned that there were other things I could do in life, but I also learned that I really wanted to play golf.
When asked to remember a funny moment from his time behind the wheel, Baldwin added: “There’s a lot to be fair about.
“I remember pulling up to a building, jumping out of the van, getting in the back and all of a sudden I felt like I was moving and I was like ‘oh no, I forgot to apply the handbrake’.
“So I ran from the back, I ran to the side, I put the handbrake on, I still didn’t want to stop, I pulled him some more, he finally stopped. stopped about inches from a blue Fiesta.
“There was a woman I was delivering a package to who watched the whole thing and she said ‘I couldn’t get my phone out fast enough to film it’.”
Growing up in Southport, Baldwin played a lot of junior golf with Tommy Fleetwood, whose second round 68 left him six shots behind his former Lancashire foursomes partner.
“I don’t think we’ve ever lost,” Baldwin added. “We played a lot of golf growing up, graduated from the Challenge Tour the same year and obviously played a little bit here.
“Our paths have been slightly different but I hope I can make up for it.”
