Rose and Cabrera lead at halfway - BMW PGA Championship 2007

An eagle two at the first helped former winner Angel Cabrera join Justin Rose at the top of the leaderboard on eight-under-par after the PGA Championship second round on Friday.

Cabrera made a dream start by holing an eight-iron from 173 yards at the opening hole and the Argentine eventually carded a six-under 66 for 136, the same total as Briton Rose (70).

Wentworth member Ross Fisher (67) finished his round birdie-eagle-birdie to share third place on 137 with Australian Marcus Fraser (70) on another benign day at the European Tour's flagship event.

Cabrera, who won the PGA two years ago and has twice finished runner-up here, followed up his eagle with birdies at the fifth, seventh, 10th and 18th.

"The three-iron went straight into the hole," the 37-year-old from Cordoba told reporters. "That was a great way to start.

"Wentworth is great, I always love coming here. It seems to bring out the best in me."

Rose, who shared the overnight lead with compatriot Paul Broadhurst, delighted the crowd with a birdie hat-trick from the 16th.

"That turned a bad day into a good day," said the 26-year-old Englishman.

"I didn't play that well, didn't hit enough fairways. I didn't seem to get the ball in play off the tee and therefore I was always struggling."

Rose drilled in a 14-foot putt at the 16th before hitting the green in two at the 610-yard 17th and taking two putts from 40 feet.

He found sand with his second shot at the par-five last but splashed out to eight feet and sank another birdie putt.

Fisher may be little known outside Wentworth but he has big ambitions.

"I am not just here to make up the numbers," he said. "I am here to win the tournament which I firmly believe I can do."

After rolling in a six-foot birdie putt at the 16th, Fisher launched a majestic 270-yard three-iron approach at the 17th before converting his three-foot eagle effort.

Asked if he regularly propelled the ball such distances with his three-iron, he replied: "Probably not, no.

"To walk up and see it three feet away was very pleasing."

Irishman Padraig Harrington, who will land a bonus of one million euros ($1.34 million) if he can add victory here to his Irish Open win last week, was on 138 with Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez, Shiv Kapur of India, Australian Matthew Millar and Broadhurst.

World number five Ernie Els, the highest-ranked player in the field, was on 144 after a four-over 76.