Stars galore at the BMW PGA Championship, one of the DP World Tour’s signature tournaments, equated by many to a Major, the third of five Rolex Series events scheduled for September 19-22 with a prize pool of nine million dollars and a first-place prize of $1,530,000.
On the Wentworth Club course, in Virginia Water in England, the quality field will include Matteo Manassero and Francesco Molinari, who won the competition in 2013 and 2018 respectively (in addition to Rocca in 1996), Guido Migliozzi, Edoardo Molinari and Andrea Pavan in a field that includes nine players in the top 30 of the world rankings and a total of 15 in the top 50.
Among the many competitors capable of putting on a show, the three protagonists of the previous Irish Open attracted attention: the Danish Rasmus Hojgaard, winner, the Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, world number three (his was the BMW PGA Championship in 2014), second, and Matteo Manassero, best Italian (9th) in the Race To Dubai (order of merit), third, who gave life to a final round of great intensity and class. They will be among the favourites together with the English Tommy Fleetwood (no. 12 in the World Ranking), Aaron Rai (no. 22) and Matt Fitzpatrick (no. 28), the Scot Robert MacIntyre (no. 16), the Australian Adam Scott (no. 17), the Frenchman Matthieu Pavon (no. 26) as well as the American Billy Horschel (no. 24) and the Irishman Shane Lowry (no. 29), the latter having won in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Not forgetting the other six in the top fifty: the Austrian Sepp Straka, the Englishman Justin Rose, the Danish Nicolai Hojgaard, Rasmus’ twin, the Koreans Byeong Hun An and Si Woo Kim and the Swedish Alex Noren, the last two past winners in 2015 and 2017. Also to watch are the Americans Peter Malnati and Mark Hubbard, the Belgian Thomas Detry, the Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, the Scotsman Ewen Ferguson, the Frenchman Victor Perez, the Englishman Matt Wallace, the South African Thriston Lawrence and the Japanese Rikuya Hoshino.
Defending the last of the four titles won on the circuit is New Zealander Ryan Fox, 37 years old from Auckland, with a list of victories that also includes three successes on the PGA Tour of Australasia, two on the Challenge Tour, three on the Charles Tour, his home circuit, and six others around the world. In 2024 he played on the PGA Tour with three top tens in twenty-one events, but with the other placings in the middle and low rankings and with seven cuts suffered.
Among the Italians, Migliozzi returns, second Italian in the European ranking (14th) and eighth in the European Masters before giving up the Irish Open. Pavan has been in the money for five outings with 12th place in the Czech Masters. Edoardo Molinari, continental vice-captain at the next Ryder Cup, is inconsistent.
It is the fourth “Back 9” event of the nine that will lead to the Genesis Championship (24-27 October), at the end of which the top 110 of the Race To Dubai will have the ‘card’ for the DP World Tour 2025. Then the conclusion with the two Play-Offs, both included in the Rolex Series, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (7-10 November) to which the top 70 of the Race To Dubai will be admitted, who will be reduced to 50 in the following DP World Tour Championship (14-17 November). It is also the fourth qualifying tournament to enter by right (six places in the Ryder Cup Points List) in Team Europe for the challenge against the United States in 2025 (Bethpage Black Course, 26-28 September, Farmingdale USA).
Record – The BMW Championship, now in its 70th edition, was born in 1955 and bears the signature of many champions, starting with Nick Faldo, the only one with four successes (also three second places). He is followed with three by Peter Alliss, Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie (hat trick in a row, 1998-2000) and with two by Seve Ballesteros, Tony Jacklin, Ian Woosnam, Anders Hansen and Luke Donald, confirmed as European captain at the 2025 Ryder Cup, who has won in sequence (2011, 2012) and who will be at the start.
In addition to the past winners mentioned, the English Danny Willett (2019) will also participate in the tournament. For the Azzurri, together with the three victories, the second places of Baldovino Dassù (1979) and Francesco Molinari himself (2017).
The departures – All tees will be from the 1st hole. 8.45am local time, Rory McIlroy with Justin Rose and Ryan Fox; 9.15am, Matteo Manassero with Swede Alexander Bjork and Japanese Ryo Hisatsune; 12.15pm, Francesco Molinari with Si Woo Kim and Thriston Lawrence; 12.55pm, Guido Migliozzi with Finnish Sami Valimaki and Rikuya Hoshino.
The tournament on SKY and streaming on NOW – The BMW PGA Championship will be broadcast live on Sky, Sky Sport Golf channel, and streamed on NOW at the following times: Thursday 19 September and Friday 20, from 1pm to 7pm; Saturday 21 and Sunday 22, from 1pm to 6.30pm.
In the photo: Matteo Manassero