The Scandinavian pairing of Viktor Hovland and Søren Kjeldsen share a one-stroke lead at the BMW PGA Championship, with Wentworth set for a thrilling third and final round in front of packed galleries.

The tournament has been reduced to 54 holes after play was suspended on Thursday evening following the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, with the second round resuming on Saturday morning. A two-minute silence was observed at Wentworth Club at 9.50am.

Denmark’s Kjeldsen set the early clubhouse target of 12 under par as he took advantage of the conditions to card an eight under par 64, with Hovland, of Norway, joining him on that number with a four under par 68.

Rory McIlroy will lead the final round charge, sitting one stroke back after carding a seven-under-par 65. He is joined in a share of third by Rafa Cabrera Bello and Thomas Detry. One stroke further back on ten under par, in a share of sixth, are Shane Lowry, Francesco Molinari, Matthew Jordan, Adrian Otaegui and Talor Gooch. Gooch is the highest placed LIV golfer on the leaderboard, while Ian Poulter, who is also a member of LIV Golf, is sitting one shot further back in tied 11th.

Hovland said: “My irons have been really good this week. I think I’ve only missed a handful of greens over the two rounds, and that obviously alleviates a lot of pressure. I still I feel like I haven’t driven it the best. but I keep giving myself looks, but I haven’t made too many putts. I played here in 2019 shortly after I turned pro and I was kind of a little overawed by the experience, but I’ve got a chance to do something tomorrow. So it would be awesome to win.

McIlroy, whose second round was kickstarted by an eagle at the fifth and ended with birdies at 17 and 18, said: “I finished the season in the States off on a real high, and I want to do the same over here. I’ve got a great chance tomorrow to win this prestigious event, but also to extend the lead in the Race to Dubai rankings, and then we’ll go to Italy and try and do it all over again.

“I’ve always liked this tournament, even though I won the event when it was played in May, it was very soft, but once the dates changed to September, I liked it more. It’s a little like The Players Championship in the States, I like the date change from May. It’s a little softer and I can play the game that I want to play a little bit more.”

Source link

The DP World Tour has called in favours from all of its top European talent to put on a show of strength at its flagship event in Europe, the BMW PGA Championship, which gets underway at Wentworth on Thursday.

In the face of competition from the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series, which has succeeded in attracting a significant number of European golfers to its ranks over the last four months, the DP World Tour has called on it big guns, namely Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Victor Hovland and Matt Fitzpatrick, currently ranked nos.3, 5, 10 and 11 in the world, to be on duty at the tournament, which is being held at the iconic Surrey venue from September 8-11.

McIlroy, who won the tournament in 2014, but hasn’t played in it since 2019, said: “The BMW PGA Championship is an event I always love playing – the West Course has been good to me in the past, and the fans are incredibly supportive. I’ve had a consistent year so far and having a chance to win again at Wentworth would help my season-long campaign.”

The previous three winners of the championship, Billy Horschel (2021), Tyrrell Hatton (2020) and Danny Willett (2019), will be back and hoping to do the double, while major champions Shane Lowry, Francesco Molinari and Justin Rose will also be in the starting line-up as the DP World Tour bids to show that it still has the caché to draw in big-name players.

Also playing at Wentworth this week will be 15 players who have all committed to LIV Golf – including Ryder Cup stalwarts Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter – whose members won a legal ruling last month that currently allows them to compete in DP World Tour events without fear of been fined or suspended, as was the case after the first event held at Centurion Club in June.

It is likely that LIV Golf players will be grouped together for the first two rounds, and will be put out early and late to ensure they don’t receive prime-time TV coverage, but that can’t be prevented for the weekend rounds when players go out in order of scores.

Source link