This yr’s BMW PGA Championship, which will get below method at Wentworth Membership on Thursday, marks numerous vital milestones for what was as soon as usually thought to be the flagship occasion within the European Tour’s aggressive calendar.
This yr’s renewal marks the seventieth version of the PGA Championship, an occasion with a historical past that spans again to 1955. It is usually the fortieth consecutive time that the event has been held at Wentworth, though the forty fourth by the membership total after the championship toured the nation for a number of years.
And eventually, this week’s championship marks the twentieth yr of BMW’s title sponsorship, with the German automobile producer having began its assist in 2005.
SELL-OUT CROWD
The occasion is a sell-out for Friday, Saturday and Sunday’s play, with properly over 100,000 individuals anticipated to come back by Wentworth’s unique gates over the course of the week.
Fittingly, the championship has attracted a robust area, with with 2023 Ryder Cup stars Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Matt Fitzpatrick, Nicolai Højgaard, Robert MacIntyre, Justin Rose and Sepp Straka all within the beginning line-up.
Becoming a member of the heroes of Rome embody European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, and 6 different previous BMW PGA Championship winners, together with Billy Horschel, Byeong Hun An, Matteo Manassero, Francesco Molinari, Alex Noren and Danny Willett.
Current winners Matt Wallace, who claimed his fifth DP World Tour title in Switzerland final week, and Irish Open champion Rasmus Højgaard will be a part of Main winner Adam Scott and PGA Tour winners Si Woo Kim and Peter Malnati, who will each be making their event debuts.
MCILROY LOOKS TO MAKE AMENDS
Rory McIlroy, talking simply three days after lacking out on successful a second Irish Open, says he now has his sights set on successful a second BMW PGA Championship title.
The Northern Irishman received on the prestigious Surrey venue in 2014 and has since completed second twice, with two additional prime tens, and seems like he’s due a change of fortunes across the West Course.
“I’m glad for the chance to get again on the horse once more,” he stated throughout his pre-tournament press convention on Wednesday. “I believe there could also be a false impression that not successful the Irish Open hit me tougher than it perhaps did. You already know, I didn’t actually really feel like I misplaced the event. I felt like Rasmus went out and received it. He shot 31 on the again 9.”
“Clearly I’m simply attempting to search for the positives in all of it, however I really feel like my recreation is in fairly good condition and I really feel like I’ve one other probability to win a extremely large event which means quite a bit to me.
It seems like fairly a very long time since I received at Quail Hole again in Could, and I’ve come shut right here at Wnetworth a few occasions. I used to be second to Francesco [Molinari] in 2018 and second to Shane [Lowry] in 2022. My kind at this event over the previous couple of years has been superb. So it might be good to only get one other win on the board.
FOX ON THE PROWL
Twelve months in the past New Zealand’s Ryan Fox birdied the enduring pa5-5 18th gap on the West Course to take win the BMW PGA Championship, edging out the English pair of Tyrrell Hatton and Aaron Rai. Hatton received’t be again this yr, having defected to LIV Golf, which has a clashing occasion in Frlida this week, though Rai, contemporary off a win on the PGA Tour, will fancy his probabilities of placing in one other robust exhibiting again on dwelling soil..
The primary spherical will get below method at 7am on Thursday, with the three-ball of Calum Hill, Matthew Jordan and Ockie Strydom first out for what guarantees to be 4 days of excessive octane motion round Wentworth’s historic heathland course.
