Billy Horschel Wins the 2021 BMW PGA Championship

Billy Horschel birdies 18th to win 2021 BMW PGA Championship (image: Getty Images)

 

 

After a dramatic final round on Sunday, American Billy Horschel has won the 2021 BMW PGA Championship with a score of 19-under. He wins by a single stroke over Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Laurie Canter and Jamie Donaldson, after carding a final round 65 on the West Course at The Wentworth Club.

 

This is Horschel's second win on the European Tour and second this season, his first being the 2021 WGC Dell Technologies Match Play. With this win, Horschel moves from 4th to 2nd in the Race to Dubai Rankings. He also becomes the first American golfer to win a Rolex event on the European Tour.

HORSCHEL THE FINISHER

Horschel started his Sunday not far off the lead at 12-under and in the second-to-last pairing. Knowing he needed to start off well, Horschel did just that, birding holes 3, 4 and 6 before heading to the back nine. After birdies on 11, 12 and a clutch putt on 15, Horschel found himself tied for the lead with three holes left. 

But Horschel would par the par 4 16th and par 5 17th holes. Onto the par 5 18th hole he went, which historically has been the site of much drama in the past. Opting to play for a birdie, Horschel layed up with his second shot. With 90 yards left to the hole and a wedge in hand, Horschel nearly holed out from the fairway, his ball stopping a couple of feet from the hole for an easy birdie. One birdie was all that was needed though, as no one else was able to break the 18-under barrier. 

Horschel's rounds were admittedly far from perfect, in his own words, carding scores of 70, 65, 69 and 65, but it was the back nine where Horschel made an impact. Over his four rounds, he played the back nine alone at 17-under with no bogeys and managed to birdie the 18th hole everyday except Saturday.

 

For those who do not watch the European Tour often, the eliteness and importance of the BMW PGA Championship may be lost on them. This is not the case for Horschel however. Earlier in the week, Horschel said in an interview that he equated the BMW PGA Championship to the Players Championship, in terms of importance and prestige. This was something he reiterated upon winning the tournament. Horschel also stated that he loves playing overseas on the European Tour and plans to return for the Alfred Dunhil Links Championship at the end of September and the DP World Tour Championship in November.

Horschel's win this week caps off an impressive month of golf for him, after a 9th place finish in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. His performance was a week too short for US Ryder Cup Captain Steve Stricker, who did not select Horschel as a captain's pick for the upcoming Ryder Cup. There's still hope for him though, as team member Brooks Koepka is still questionable after an injury during the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

HOW DID OUR PICKS FINISH?

It wasn't looking too good for our "older" picks but here's how they finished:

 

1) Richard Bland: T57 at 3-under

2) Francesco Molinari: T35 at 7-under

3) Ian Poulter: CUT

 

Surely a frustrating week for our picks. It was also revealed by Molinari that he will most likely miss the Ryder Cup this year after a lingering back issue. Let's hope this changes, as many of us desperately want to see the famous Fleetwood-Molinari pairing again!

 

***

 

That concludes our coverage of the 2021 BMW PGA Championship. Yet again, this illustrious tournament failed to disappoint, with amazing drama and exciting storylines.

Next week, our coverage will travel back over the pond for the start of the 2021-2022 PGA Tour season with the 2021 Fortinet Championship. Stay tuned for our preview of the season, the tournament and our picks.

-Nick

Toronto Golf Reviews

Kiradech Aphibarnrat Leads the 2021 BMW PGA Championship

 

Kiradech Aphibarnrat leads the 2021 BMW PGA Championship (image: AFP)

 

 

Two rounds have been played at the 2021 BMW PGA Championship at The Wentworth Club. Much anticipation was had for this event, given the elite field of players, and as of now, Kiradech Aphibarnrat is the leader at 12-under with a single shot lead over Laurie Canter. 

 

The cut has been set at 2-under par.

APHIBARNRAT IN CONTROL AT WENTWORTH

Aphibarnrat opened the tournambent with an impressive 8-under 64 on Thursday. His round started off quiet however, only carding a single birdie on the front nine. But that changed on the back nine, where Aphibarnrat birdied 7 of the 9 holes for a 30. 

 

He followed up his opening 64 with a 68 on Friday. This time though, he found trouble on the back nine, carding bogeys on holes 11 and 13 with six birdies on the day.

Going into the tournament, Aphibarnrat was ranked 208th in the Race to Dubai rankings. With a win this week, he would sky-rocket up to 14th place; a much needed boost as the season winds down. 

Aphibarnrat's impressive play thus far should be of no surprise, given the wave of momentum he is riding at the moment. Just last week, he successfully regained his PGA Tour card for the 2021-2022 season after an excellent performance at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. 

 

WET WINDY WENTWORTH

If one wasn't truly convinced that The Wentworth Club was located in England, the weather over the first two days certainly would confirm this. Conditions were cool and wet for the opening rounds, but this didn't stop low scores from being shot. The low round of the tournament thus far was a 64 shot by Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Christian Bezuidenhout, both on Thursday.

The wet weather is expected to cease for the weekend rounds, as are the winds. 

HOW ARE OUR PICKS DOING

We gambled this week by making "older" picks who were jousting for Ryder Cup potential. Here's how they are doing so far:

1) Richard Bland: T61 at 2-under

2) Francesco Molinari: T61 at 2-under

3) Ian Poulter: CUT

Not looking too good so far. Both Bland and Molinari experienced up and down rounds, but fought to get over the cutline, with Bland making a key birdie at the par 5 18th hole on Friday. Let's hope the weekend will treat them better.

 

 

Two rounds down, two to go at the 2021 BMW PGA Championship. Stay tuned for our wrap-up post to see who has won.

 

 

-Nick

Toronto Golf Reviews

 

 

2021 BMW PGA Championship Preview

Richard Bland is one of our picks to win the 2021 BMW PGA Championship (image: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

 

 

This week, the European Tour returns home to the Wentworth Club for its premier event: the 2021 BMW PGA Championship. Star-studded and filled with the elites of the European Tour, the best of the best will be battling it out this week. 

 

There is much on the line, including an $8 million purse, 8,000 Race to Dubai points, 64 WGC points and exemptions into the next US Open and the next three Open Championships for the winner.

 

 

THE WENTWORTH CLUB: HOST AND HOME THIS WEEK

The BMW PGA Championship was first contested in 1955. Prior to 1984, the tournament was played at a variety of courses across England, including Royal St. Georges, Royal Birkdale, Saunton, before making its permanent home at Wentworth.

 

Since 1984, the West course at Wentworth had hosted the tournament. Originally designed in 1926 by Harry Colt, the course remained much the same until 2005, when it received modifications by Ernie Els. Els aimed to modernize the course slightly, increasing its total length by 310 yards and adding thirty bunkers spread across the holes. For the BMW PGA Championship, the West course plays as a par 72 at 7,302 yards in length. 

The course record is a 62, shot by Robert Karlsson in 2010, Thomas Bjorn in 2014 and Alex Noren in 2017, all during European Tour events.

The Wentworth Club and its estate is also the headquarters for the European Tour, acting as its front office and central location.

SPOTLIGHT: 2011 BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

The BMW PGA Championship is one of my favourite tournaments to watch on the European Tour since it was the setting an amazing moment in golf, in my opinion. 

 

In the 2011 edition of the tournament, World Numbers One and Two, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald, respectively, had finished their final rounds tied for the lead; a sudden death followed, on the par 5 18th hole. On the line was not only the tournament but also the title of World Number One, since Donald and Westwood were close in the world rankings. 

 

Both hit great tee shots and both had roughly the same distances for their approach shots to the green. Donald went first and landed his ball safely on the green, close to the flag. Westwood responded by landing his shot just inside Donald's but then watched his ball roll off the water-lined green into the water, resulting in Donald winning the tournament and the title of World Number One. So much was on the line at that moment and Westwood, after seeing Donald's shot, knew he had to go for it. It was tense, yet exciting; that's why I'll never forget it. Moments like this seem to only happen at big tournaments like this. Luke also managed to defend his title the next year. 

OUR PICKS THIS WEEK

It's a packed field this week, but there was something else we needed to consider when making our picks. The Ryder Cup is just a few weeks away. For some European golfers, the BMW PGA Championship will be a spotlight for them to plead their Ryder Cup case to European Captain Padraig Harrington, who is in the field this week. Given that, here's who we have winning it:

1) Richard Bland

2) Francesco Molinari

3) Ian Poulter

Not the youngest picks in the field by quite a margin, but its for good reason. It's been great to watch the revival of Richard Bland over the past year with his first European Tour win at the British Masters, plus he's coming off a good finish at the Italian Open. Molinari I think will make the Ryder Cup team as a captain's pick, and will most likely be using the tournament this week as prep for it. Poulter has had a good year and is coming off a decent end to his PGA Tour season. He also makes it as a captain's pick, hands down, who else is going to deliver the post?

Play kicks off very early Thursday morning, but the weather is forecasted to rain for the first two rounds. This is sure to add some more drama to the tournament. 

Stay tuned for our Weekend Update post to see all the storylines and drama heading into the weekend.

-Nick

Toronto Golf Reviews

Danny Willett Wins Big On Home Soil

After firing off a 5-under 68 for his final round, 2016 Masters Champion and Englishman Danny Willett has won the 2019 BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club. He finished with a three shot lead over final round partner Jon Rahm. This is Willett's first win of 2019 and his last win since the 2018 DP World Tour Championship. He is also the first Englishman to win the tournament since Chris Wood in 2016.

Willett's final round was impressive, consisting of six birdies (including back-to-back on the 17th and 18th) and a single bogey. The bogey occurred on the 11th hole, where Willett found trouble with trees, but a key 40-foot putt limited the damage. Going into the final hole, Willett was up by two strokes over a pressing Jon Rahm. Rahm knew he needed at least a birdie to force a playoff, but was too aggressive with his second shot, finding water just short of the green. Willett on the other hand, took a safer approach and managed to birdie the hole for the win.

It is quite ironic that our last post here at Toronto Golf Reviews before our "break" was about Danny Willett winning the 2016 Masters. Even more ironic is perhaps the fact that at the conclusion of the 2018 BMW PGA Championship, Willett had dropped to 462nd in the World Golf Rankings, his lowest ranking since his rookie year. 

Like many golfers in the past, after his major win, Willett struggled on the course with his new expectations and off the course with injuries. He was pointless in the 2016 Ryder Cup, lost his PGA Tour card and managed just one top-10 finish in 2017. It was a low point for Willett, but not the end, although it easily could have been.

“I’ve had an undying want to get back… I was willing to change whatever had to be changed and that’s pretty hard to do… to jump full throttle into something you’re not sure if it’s going to work out or not.” the Englishman said of his post-Masters struggles.

And come back he did, after the 2018 BMW PGA Championship. His hard work paid off, resulting in top-10 performances at the Irish and Turkish Airlines Open and a win at the DP World Tour Championship. This propelled Willett up to 90th in the World Golf Rankings. Further top-10 performances in 2019 at the RBC Canadian Open and Open Championship pushed him into the top-60. Now with this win, Willett is back in the the top-40. 

Personally, I am happy to see that Danny Willett is back and not one of those "one and done" golfers. He's shown that he has what it takes to be an elite and world-class golfer. After all, he's had to battle high-profile fields in pretty much every tournament that he's won. If that's not the mark of a world class player then I don't know what is!

We end with a quick look of how our picks performed this week:

1) Matthew Fitzpatrick: T46 at 1-over

2) Tommy Fleetwood: T60 at 3-over

3) Rory McIlroy: T9 at 11-under

Not the best weeks for Fitzpatrick and Fleetwood, with both shooting over 70 in all their rounds. McIlroy on the other hand picks up another top-10 finish.

That's a wrap on our coverage of the 2019 BMW PGA Championship. Our couverage of the European tour continues this week of perhaps the best tournament on the European Tour (in my opinion), the exciting and dramatic Alfred Dunhill Links Championship!


Stay tuned for our preview and picks,

-Nick

Toronto Golf Reviews

 

Danny Willett Wins the 2019 BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club

(Photo: Reuters)

2019 BMW PGA Championship Preview

The European Tour heads to Surrey, England this week for its flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club. Filled with a star-studded field consisting of top players from all over the world, this is one of the most elite and biggest events on the European Tour. Much is up for grabs this week: a nearly million Euro paycheck, 64 WGC points and exemptions into this year's US Open and the next 3 Open Championships being given to the winner.

The tournament will be contested on the West course at Wentworth, originally designed by Harry Colt in 1926 and adjusted over the years. The 7284-yard par 72 course is not the longest on tour but nevertheless tough. It's tree-lined, forest-carved holes demand accuracy and good ball-striking. It is also among the favourite courses for many tour pros who have had the opportunity to play it. 

Things are a bit different this year however, most notably the date. This is the first time that the tournament is being played in September, moving from its original slot in May as a result of the PGA Championship moving up to May. Given this, the weather may become more of a factor than in previous editions of the tournament. As of now, this doesn't appear to be the case for the first three rounds, but conditions could worsen for Sunday, which will no doubt make things interesting.

Perhaps a more interesting feature of this year's tournament is that GPS will be used to track slow play amongst the players. This is part of the European Tour's newly released initiative to combat slow play on tour. In particular, a tracking device will be placed on one player's golf bag in each group. Once a hole is completed, the information will be automatically sent to officials, who will be monitoring progress. Displays will also be available on each hole, to indicate tardiness, among other information. I am very curious to see what the results will, especially considering that we have an article on slow-play in the works. For more information, check out Golf Channel's article about it.

Personally, the BMW PGA Championship is one of my favourite tournaments to watch on the European Tour since it was the setting an amazing moment in golf, in my opinion. In the 2011 edition of the tournament, World Numbers One and Two, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald, respectively, had finished their final rounds tied for 1st place; a sudden death followed, on the par 5 1st hole of the West course. On the line was not only the tournament but also the title of World Number One. Donald and Westwood both started the hole well and both had roughly the same distances for their approach shots. Donald went first and landed his ball safely on the green, close to the flag. Westwood responded by landing his shot just inside Donald's but then watched his ball roll off the water-lined green into the water, resulting in Donald winning the tournament and the title. So much was on the line at that moment and Westwood, after seeing Donald's shot, knew he had to go for it. It was tense, yet exciting; that's why I'll never forget it. But moments like this seem to only happen at big tournaments like this. Luke also managed to defend his title the next year. 

As always, we end off with our picks for this week. Given the requirements of fairway accuracy and ball-striking, we decided to make our picks for this week loosely based on these stats:

1) Matthew Fitzpatrick

2) Tommy Fleetwood

3) Rory McIlroy

Fitzpatrick ranks consistently as one of the more accurate players on tour and doesn't drive the ball too far (something that will benefit him this week). Fleetwood is also very accurate off the tee and is coming off a T8 finish a few weeks ago at the Omega European Masters. McIlroy is our last pick and frankly is always a safe pick when he's playing well. He also won the tournament in 2014.

The first round kicks off early Thursday morning (EST time) and is the start of what's sure to be an exciting tournament. Be sure to check it out!

-Nick

Toronto Golf Reviews

Can Matthew Fitzpatrick win the 2019 BMW PGA Championship this week? (PressClub Global BMW)

Byeong Hun An Wins the 2015 BMW PGA Championship

From the start of this week, I'm sure no one had this man in mind to win the tournament, especially the way he did. Against all odds though, Byeong Hun An AKA Ben An has won the 2015 BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club, with a score of 21-under par, six shots ahead of Miguel Angel Jimenez and Thongchai Jaidee. This is the Korean-born's first European Tour win only his second professional win.

An's final aggregate score was 267, which was just one shot shy of tying the tournament record of 266, set back in 1961 by Brian Bramford. To par however, his score of 21-under is the lowest in tournament history, going back to the start of the under-par format. On top of that, he's also the first winner in 39 years to win on his tournament debut. He shot this final score with rounds of 71, 64, 67, and 65. His final round consisted of five birdies and an eagle. This, combined with a struggling Molinari, led to his large victory. This is definitely a career changing win for An, as he's now exempt into the next three British Opens and next US Open and receives mega WGC points (he was previously ranked 132 in the world).

Speaking of Molinari, he was leading going into the final round and was in the final group, along with An. However, he shot a 74 today (in a round the was up and down all day) which was very high considering the average round for a good finisher was a couple of shots under par. He finished the tournament in solo 5th.

Saturday's rounds were also filled with much excitement. To start, Tommy Fleetwood (who finished T6) scored an albatross (double-eagle) on Wentworth's par 5 552 yard 4th hole. And if that wasn't enough, TGR favourite Miguel Angel Jimenez made an ace on the par 3 154 yard 2nd. This was Jimenez's 2nd hole in one in just two weeks (his last was at last week's Spanish Open) and his 3rd one this season. That's why they call Saturday "Moving Day".

Finally, here's how our picks finished:

1) Graeme McDowell: T59 at 2-over
2) Danny Willett: T38 at 2-under
3) Chris Wood: 4th at 13-under

A poor finish yet again for GMac, who didn't have a sub-70 round all week. Willett finished off pretty decent, but the best week goes to Chris Wood, who shot a final round of 66, which included 7 birdies and a hole-in-one of the par 3 179 yard 14th (due to the ace, he also wins a new BMW i8).

And that's a wrap on what's been a very exciting week, especially this weekend. Our coverage will be staying in Europe next week for the Irish Open (formally the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation) at Royal County Down in Newcastle, Northern Ireland.

Stay tuned for our picks for the tournament on Wednesday,


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Ben Am Wins the 2015 BMW PGA Championship by a staggering six shots

2015 BMW PGA Championship Weekend Update

We're two rounds into the BMW PGA Championship with two more to go at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, England. As it stands now, the leader going into the weekend is Italian Francesco Molinari at 10-under. He holds a one shot lead over Challenge Tour player Byeong Hun An AKA Ben An (who currently holds the record for younger winner of the US Amateur, which he won in 2009 at age 17.) The cut has also been set at 2-over this week

Conditions were perfect at Wentworth over the past two days, which led to good scores all around. Molinari started the tournament off with a 65 and followed it up with a 69 today. Ben An shot a 64 earlier today in a round that consisted of 8 birdies with four of them in a row. TGR favourite and former winner Miguel Angel Jimenez is also in the mix of things at 6-under T6. Many players were eager to put in a good round before the weekend.

World Number One Rory McIlroy is also making headlines this week, but for the wrong reasons. The Northern Irishman missed the cut after shooting a 71 76, but is also receiving a fine from the European Tour after throwing one of his clubs after a bad shot on the 17th on Thursday. In a post round interview, Rory stated that he was mentally angry and showing signs of fatigue.

Also in the news, the other older Molinari brother, Eduardo, and Padraig Harrington have withdrew from the tournament due to injuries; a shoulder injury for Padraig and a wrist injury for Eduardo.

Finally, here's how our picks are doing:

1) Graeme McDowell: T62 at 1-over
2) Danny Willett: T25 at 2-under
3) Chris Wood: T17 at 3-under

Good work from Willett and Wood, they're in good positions going into the weekend. Though it looks like GMac needs a couple of big rounds to have a run at the title.

Stay tuned Sunday for our Results post to see who's won,


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Francesco Molinari is on track for his first European Tour win in three years

(David Cannon/Getty Images)

2015 BMW PGA Championship Picks

This week we turn our coverage to a European Tour event, in fact, the flagship event of the European Tour, the BMW PGA Championship, which is played yearly at the West course at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, England. This is one of the most elite and biggest events on the European Tour, with a large money prize, 64 WGC points, and exemptions into this year's US Open and the next 3 Open Championships given to the winner. It's roughly the equivalent of The Players Championship on the PGA Tour.

This is also one of my favourite tournaments to watch on the European Tour since it was the setting an amazing moment in golf. In the 2011 edition of the tournament, World Numbers One and Two, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald had finished their final rounds tied for 1st place and had to go to sudden death on the par 5 1st hole of the West course. On the line was not only the tournament win but also the title of World Number One. They both started the hole well and both had roughly the same distances for their approach shots. Luke went first and landed his ball safely on the green, close to the hole. Lee responded by landing his shot just inside Luke's but then watched his ball roll off the water-lined green into the water, resulting in Luke winning the tournament and the title. So much was on the line at that moment and that's why I'll never forget it. But moments like this seem to only happen at big tournaments like this.

Being a more elite tournament, all of the European Tour's (and some PGA Tour) top players will be playing this week. It situations like this, it's always hard to make picks, but we've narrowed it down to three players:

1) Graeme McDowell
2) Danny Willett
3) Chris Wood

Hopefully one of these players will win it this week. Play starts very early tomorrow in the morning in EST time. Stay tuned for our weekend update post on Friday to see who's leading going into the weekend.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Will GMac be able to win this week?

2014 BMW PGA Championship Predictions - Results

The final round of the BMW PGA Championship has concluded and the winner is Irishman Rory McIlroy, who birdied the 18th hole to win with a one shot lead, 14-under (-14) over fellow Irishman Shane Lowry. Before the tournament started, McIlroy was in the news for calling off his engagement with tennis star Caroline Wozniacki. Despite this however, he emerged victorious.

As for our picks, here is how each of them fared:

1) Lee Westwood - T35 at 1-under (-1)
2) Padraig Harrington T61 at 4-over (+4)
3) Alvaro Quiros T57 at 3-over (+3)

And our person of note, Miguel Angel Jimenez went T35 at 1-under (-1)

Stay tuned next week for more coverage of PGA/European Tour tournaments,

-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Rory McIlroy Wins the 2014 BMW PGA Championship

(Richard Heathcote - Getty Images)

2014 BMW PGA Championship Predictions - Weekend Update

The weekend is here and the cut has now been made at the European Tour's largest event at 3-over (+3). The leader going in to the weekend is Shane Lowry at 10-under (-10) with a two-shot lead over Thomas Bjorn. Here is how our predictions turned out:

1) Lee Westwood - T29 at 1-under (-1)
2) Padraig Harrington T56 at 2-over (+2)
3) Alvaro Quiros T48 at 1-over (+1)

And our player of note, Miguel Angel Jimenez, is T42 at even par.

Weekend play is always very exciting at this tournament so lets see how our picks continue and who will win it all,

-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Click Here for the 2014 BMW PGA Championship Leaderboard 

2014 BMW PGA Championship Predictions

Tomorrow is the start of one of the European Tour's most coveted tournaments, the BMW PGA Championship, played at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, England. This tournament is the "Big One" when it comes to the European Tour, being known formally as the "Premier Event" for the Tour and due to the fact that it hands out a lot of World Golf Rankings points, as well as exemptions into this year's U.S. Open and the next three British Opens (Open Championships).

Despite being a field packed with the best of the best, come Sunday evening, there will only be one winner. Here are our predictions for the winner this year, in no particular order.

1) Lee Westwood
2) Padraig Harrington
3) Alvaro Quiros

We'll also be keeping an eye on Miguel Angel Jimenez, winner of last week's Spanish Open, and personal favourite around here.

Stay tuned to see how our predictions fare out,

-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Click Here for the 2014 BMW PGA Championship Leaderboard