Following on from his stunning victory in the WGC – CA Championship at Doral, which put him at the top of The European Tour’s all-time career money list, Ernie Els has confirmed his entry for this year’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club from May 20-23.
It will be Els’s first tournament appearance in Europe in 2010 and it is entirely fitting that it should be at Wentworth Club where Ernie has for the last four years overseen the spectacular modernisation and refinement of the iconic West Course.
This year's BMW PGA Championship will be his 15th appearance in The European Tour's Flagship Event, which the 40 year old South African has been trying to win since his debut in 1992. Els has five top five finishes, and been runnerup on three occasions and would love to add this prestigious title to his list of global achievements.
The West Course has been closed for the last ten months while new greens and greens’ complexes were built to USGA specification. Many holes have been subjected to changes, most significantly the par four eighth and the par five 18th, to ensure that each has its own strong and distinct strategic value. This final phase of works also incorporated a complete review of the bunkering on the golf course. Members of the Ernie Els Design team were on site throughout.
“I’m really excited about returning to Wentworth and playing the new-look West Course,” says Els. “Obviously I’ve been back to the Club quite a few times while the renovation work was taking place, most recently in December, so I know how fantastic the golf course looks. The quality of the workmanship is as good as you’ll see anywhere in the world and I’m expecting the new greens to be a dream to putt on. Playing it in tournament conditions is going to be very special.”
Els still has a house on the Wentworth estate, so in his eyes any tournament played there is very much a ‘home game’. He has won the World Match Play Championship on the West Course a record seven times.
“Everyone knows how special Wentworth is to me,” commented Els, “so of course it was an honour to be given the responsibility of renovating this classic course and bringing it into the 21st century. At Ernie Els Design we’re proud of what we’ve achieved and I think we’ve succeeded in making a great golf course even better; a real test for the best. Also I’m really looking forward to getting feedback from my fellow tour professionals. To be honest, I think they’re going to love it.”
