The BMW PGA Championship is one of the highlights of the golfing year and, whether you are a golf fan or golf bettor checking out the current PGA golf odds, it is definitely an event to look forward to.
Often described as the European Tour’s ‘Second Major’, only The Open comes ahead of the PGA Championship when it comes to prestige and value. It is designated as the European Tour’s Premier Event, which means that there is a minimum of 64 ranking points on offer for the winning player and, up until the introduction of the Race To Dubai, it was the most valuable tournament on the Tour too.
First staged in 1955, when it was known as the PGA Close Championship, it has had several sponsors and venues. However, since 1984, it has been played at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, and since 2005, it has been sponsored by the high-profile car manufacturer, BMW. The prize pool is an impressive $8 million, with the winner receiving a little over $1.33 million.
Famous Venue
One thing that we can always expect from the BMW PGA Championship is stunning scenery. Wentworth is one of Britain’s most famous courses, in fact, aside from the well-known links courses that the UK is famous for, this picturesque parkland venue at Virginia Water, Surrey, is probably the best known.
The tournament is played on the West Course at Wentworth and has been updated a few times in recent years. As recently as 2016, extensive work was carried out on the greens, which were dug up and then re-seeded with a variety of creeping bentgrass. Five of the greens were partially reconstructed as part of this process, while four were completely reshaped, and a new sub-air system was installed too.
The result was that the Wentworth greens became faster and quicker to drain, while the surfaces of the greens were flatter. Although there are few water hazards to cope with, the course remains a tough tree-lined challenge, requiring accuracy from both tee and fairway, particularly on its famous dog-leg holes. While big-hitting US players can do well there, the premium placed on accuracy means that we can expect to see a few frustrated players this week as their drives and irons drift into the trees.
This tournament also attracts huge crowd numbers, with additional attractions including music events and a famous pro-am competition that takes place before the main tournament tees off.
The 2022 PGA Championship Field
This year’s tournament runs from September 8th to September 11th and will attract the usual strong field to what is a four-day festival of top-class golf. As a sign of how competitive the tournament usually is, only nine players in its history have won it more than once. Nick Faldo holds the record with four wins, while Peter Alliss, Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie have all won it three times.
UK winners are common. Since 2005, the tournament has been won by a UK player on nine occasions, the latest being Tyrrell Hatton in 2020 and Danny Willett in 2019. Both will be playing at this year’s event, along with the 2021 winner, Billy Horschel.
Among the other big-name players that we can expect to see at Wentworth are Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy. Rahm, the current world number five, will be back at Wentworth for the first time since 2019 and will be aiming to improve on his runners-up spot at the tournament that year. His final round tussle with Danny Willett was one of the highlights of the season, and Rahm has since gone on to make it to the top of the world golf rankings, as well as winning the US Open last year.
With seven PGA Tour titles to his name, Rahm will be a serious contender for Wentworth glory, as will Rory McIlroy. Like Rahm, he will be back at the BMW PGA Championship for the first time in three years and will be looking for his second career victory at a venue where he usually does well. He won the tournament back in 2014 but has also finished in the top five in 2009 and as runner-up in 2018.
McIlroy has been somewhere near his best in 2022 so far and will head to Wentworth as a 21-time PGA Tour title winner, having landed the Canadian Open in June. He also finished as runner-up at the Masters and third in the Open Championship and will be aiming to add to his trophy haul at Wentworth.