Francesco Molinari maintains Wentworth lead as Rory McIlroy bows out

Francesco Molinari maintained his lead at the top of the BMW PGA Championship on Friday as defending champion Rory McIlroy sensationally missed the cut.

After an error-free opening round, Molinari saw his lead fall away with two bogeys inside the opening three holes, but he then carded five birdies to finish 10-under par with a score of 69, one clear of An Byeong-hun.

But it was the early exit of McIlroy that raised eyebrows, the world number one struggling for any form in the second round.

His five-over par 78 included six bogeys and a six at the par-four 11th, and the world number one was left frustrated after finishing four shots off the cut to miss the weekend.

"I was trying hard out there but I just couldn"t get anything going," he said.

"I'm not angry. A little disappointed I'm not going to be here for the weekend, but if there was any weekend to miss, coming off the back of three good weeks in the States, I'm probably in need of a little bit of a rest.

"I'd still rather be here but it's not all bad getting to go home for the weekend."

Molinari's two-shot advantage looked set to remain intact as Emiliano Grillo and Thongchai Jaidee both sat on eight under, but An came surging through the field to take second place on his own going into round three.

The 23-year-old South Korean carded the round of the day with a 64, including four successive birdies from the second to finish as Molinari's nearest competitor.

Molinari said: "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."