The BMW PGA Golf Championship – one of the flagship tournaments of the European Tour and the first of eight Rolex Series events to be staged in the Race To Dubai this year.
The revamped West Course at the Wentworth Club in Surrey stages this $7million tournament which was first contested in 1955. Wentworth has been its home since 1984 and, until 2009, it had the biggest prize money in European golf.
The West Course measures more than 7,300 yards and last year’s PGA Championship was the first since it underwent yet more redevelopment. Ernie Els has played a key role in the latest renovations, overseeing the change of layout of five greens and reducing the number of bunkers. The South African will be one of four former world number ones playing this week – the others are Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy, in 2014, is the only one of that quartet to have won the tournament and the Northern Irishman is Unibet’s 17/2 favourite. He hasn’t won on the European Tour since victory in the Irish Open two years ago but did win the Arnold Palmer Invitational in the States in March and tied for fifth in the Masters.
Alex Noren is a general 14/1 to successfully defend his title. The Swede produced a record-breaking final round last year to beat Francesco Molinari by two strokes for a ninth win on the European Tour. Molinari is 22/1 with Sportingbet to go one better this year but it won’t be easy. There are five other Majors winners among the opposition alongside McIlroy, Kaymer and Els. Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Danny Willett, Trevor Immelman and Graeme McDowell will all tee-off on Thursday after joining the celebrities in a pro-am on the Wednesday but this is not a tournament which attracts many Americans. Visitors from across the pond are notable by their absence again this year but maybe that’s because none have won the event since it was established at Wentworth more than 30 years ago.
The 2015 winner, An Byeong-hun of South Korea, is a general 33/1, the same odds as 2014 runner-up Shane Lowry and Matthew Fitzpatrick. Race To Dubai champion Tommy Fleetwood is only a general 14/1, however, and Branden Grace (a general 16/1) will also have his supporters. At 40/1 with Sportingbet, Rafa Cabrera Bello is also interesting. Last year’s Scottish Open champion should be suited by the West Course and there are signs that TYRRELL HATTON could build on a solid 2017 this year. The Englishman has already gone close in the Dubai Desert Classic and the WGC – Mexico Championship so the general 33/1 might be a bit of value. Unibet are offering place betting down to sixth place and paying one quarter the odds.
English players have won the BMW PGA Championship in five of the last 10 years and another, ANDREW JOHNSTON, makes plenty of appeal this year at a general 50/1. Londoner Johnston has only won once on the European Tour, the 2016 Spanish Open. But he did manage a top-10 finish in this tournament the same year. ‘Beef’ is hugely popular with golf fans and his ability to hit long will stand him in good stead at Wentworth.
BMW PGA Championship Selected Best Odds
Rory McIlroy 17/2, Tommy Fleetwood, Paul Casey and Alex Noren 14/1, Branden Grace 16/1, Francesco Molinari 22/1, Ian Poulter 30/1, Shane Lowry, Matthew Fitzpatrick, An Byeong-hun and Tyrrell Hatton 33/1, Rafael Cabrera Bello, Andy Sullivan and Paul Dunne 40/1, Alexander Levy, Andrew Johnston and Kiradech Aphibarnrat 50/1, Joost Luiten 55/1, Adrian Otaegui and Thomas Pieters 60/1, Ross Fisher and Alexander Bjork 66/1, Jorge Campillo 70/1, Haotong Li, Dylan Fratelli, Lee Westwood, Jeunghun Wang and Martin Kaymer 80/1 (Odds correct at 11.00am May 22)
