The 2019 BMW PGA Championship gets under way at Wentworth Golf Club this week, with a new September date and one of the strongest fields in the event’s long history. We look at five things to know ahead of the eagerly anticipated fourth Rolex Series event of the 2019 Race to Dubai.
Field of gold
One of the strongest fields in the long and storied history of the BMW PGA Championship will assemble at Wentworth Club this week, with defending champion Francesco Molinari and World Number Two Rory McIlroy among the headline acts.
Ten of the 12 European Ryder Cup winners from last year’s Le Golf National spectacle are in attendance, with Spain’s Jon Rahm making his debut at the prestigious event, while home heroes Paul Casey, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Ian Poulter and Justin Rose also return.
Four American stars, Tony Finau, Billy Horschel, Andrew Putnam and Patrick Reed have journeyed across the Atlantic to compete for the trophy, with the new September date providing them with an opportunity to add the historic tournament to their busy international schedules.
Return to Rolex Series
The Rolex Series, the eight premium tournaments each with a minimum prize fund of US $7 million, returns to Wentworth Club for a third time. On the first of those occasions in 2017, the tournament marked the very beginning of the Rolex Series – won in swashbuckling style by Swede Alex Noren.
The Rolex Series in 2019 has already provided plenty of drama and three worthy champions, with Lowry claiming the first title at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA in January, before Rahm earned his third Rolex Series victory at the Dubai Duty Free Irish. Bernd Wiesberger capitalised on his stunning 2019 form a week later to claim his maiden Rolex Series triumph at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open.
September is the new May
This year marks a new chapter in BMW PGA Championship history, as it moves from its traditional May date to September.
While the tournament had in recent years marked the beginning of the British sporting summer, the transition means this year’s tournament comes in the business end of the Race to Dubai, with crucial points at stake in the race to become European Tour Number One, while the battle to qualify for the European Ryder Cup team also tees off this week.
Additionally, the new date means the famous West Course at Wentworth has benefited from a summer season of growth and maintenance – meaning the course is in better condition than ever.
Ryder Cup countdown begins
The BMW PGA Championship takes on extra significance this year as the first counting event for Padraig Harrington’s European team for The 2020 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits.
Among those looking to stake an early claim for a spot on the plane to Wisconsin are ten members of Thomas Bjørn’s winning team from Le Golf National, including World Number Six Rahm, who is making his BMW PGA Championship debut at Wentworth Club, Ian Poulter, AKA ‘The Postman’, and 14-time European Tour winner Paul Casey.
The trio will be joined by seven further players from the triumphant 2018 team; former BMW PGA Championship winners, McIlroy, Molinari and Alex Noren, the 2016 Open Champion Henrik Stenson and English trio Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Justin Rose.
Star-studded celebrity line-up
The BMW PGA Championship will welcome many of golf’s biggest names, but the players will not be the only stars in action. The BMW PGA Championship Celebrity Pro-Am on Wednesday September 18 has again attracted international superstars from across the world of sport and entertainment, including England’s World Cup-winning cricket heroes Jos Buttler, Joe Root and Ben Stokes, former footballing giants Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nemanja Vidic, plus entertainment icons Niall Horan, Chris Evans and Anton Du Beke.
The entertainment continues away from the course, with London act Rudimental headlining the Slingsby Showstage on Saturday evening before British star Anne-Marie brings the curtain down after the final putt drops on Sunday evening.
