Blog#174 Results BMW Championship Wentworth Club England September 23, 2024

Blog#174 Results BMW Championship Wentworth Club England September 23, 2024

HISTORY This is the 3rd of the 5 Rolex Series tournaments and is one of the more important and lucrative DP World Tour Events.  The last 2 are Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship 11/7-11/10 with a purse $9M and DP World Championship 11/14-17 in Dubai, purse $10M.   

If an agreement with PIF/LIV & PGA SSG is reached these 3 tournaments should be a big part of the new organization.  In fact the PGA and European Tour allowed players to play in the Abu Dhabi tournament in Feb of 2022.  It was the same weekend as Pebble Beach and the PGA granted many exemptions for golfers to skip Pebble Beach and play in Abu Dhabi.  That is where Greg Norman and Phil Mickelson recruited their first LIV players.  Harold Varner got his first win in 5 years and Bubba Watson came in 2nd.  Both joined LIV later that year. 

The Wentworth Club PAR 72 is located less than 1 hour from central London.  

Last years winner was Ryan Fox and the notable top 10 were; 

2 Tyrell Hatton(now with LIV) 3 Aaron Rai(First PGA win Wyndham Championship in August)

5 Jon Rahm, 6 Tommy Fleetwood, 7 Rory McIlroy, 10 Ludvig Aberg (his 1st PGA win is 2 months later in November at the RSM Classic at St Simons Island GA).

Former winners Shane Lowry 2022, Billy Horschel 2021 Tyrell Hatton 2020, Rory McIlroy 2014.

ROUND 1 Weather Sunny mild.  Included in the top 3 are 4 of the favorites*.

1 Matthew Baldwin(35/1) ENG-7 65 OWGR 363, bogie free RD, birdies 18. Finish 4 

2 Niklas Norgaard(18/1) DEN-6 66 OWGR 161 passed Rory with 4 birdies back 9 Finish 7

*3 Rory McIlroy-5 NI 67 early lead birdies 3 to 6 then bogie on 7 & bogies18. Finish 2 

*3 Robert MacIntyre SCO-5 66 OWGR 16 Won Scottish open LY has played well Finish Cut

*3 Shane Lowry IRL-5 67 OWGR 29 1 eagle 1 bogie 4 birdies. Finish 12

3 Matteo Manassero ITA-5 67 OWGR 101 Tied for 3rd last week at Irish Open. Finish 4 

*3 Billy Horschel USA-5 67 OWGR 24 Likes DP events, bogies #1 with 6 birdies. Finish Won

21 Tommy Fleetwood-3 69 OWGR 12, pars first 11 holes birdies 3 of last 4. Finish 12

ROUND 2 Same as RD 1

1 Matthew Baldwin-13 66  First bogie of RD on #11 with 7 birdies.

2 Niklas Norgaard-11 67 On eagle one bogie 4 birdies.

4 Rory McIlroy-9 68 Three birdies on last 6 holes and just misses eagle on 18.

5 Billy Horschel-8 69 Again bogies #1 then 1 more bogie with 5 birdies.

5 Matteo Manssero-8 67 One eagle 3 bogies 10 birdies.

7 Tommy Fleetwood-7 68 One eagle 2 bogies 4 birdies.

13 Shane Lowry-6 71 Three birdies 2 bogies.

ROUND 3 Weather wet damp with showers light and heavy at times, but no wind.

1 Manssero-17 63 Lowest RD of day bogie free 1 eagle birdies last 3 holes.

2 McIlroy -15 66 1 eagle 4 birdies 30’ birdie putt on 10 just misses long eagle on 17.

2 Horschel-15 thru 16 bogies #7 then birdies 7 straight from 8 to 14 then bogies 15. 

FINAL ROUND  One of the better tournaments of the year especially the finish.  Horschel & McIlroy did what top golfers should do.  They chased down the lesser known players and had a great 2 hole playoff when Lawrence put his ball in the water and they pared the 1st payoff hole. Both had very long eagle putts on the 2nd which McIlroy just missed and Horschel made.

1) Billy Horschel-20 Birdies last 2 holes to tie for playoff, his 3rd DP win. $1.5M 

2) Thirston Lawrence-20 Shoots bogie free RD after 3 bogies in RD 2. $779K

3) Rory McIlroy-20 Eagles 17 to tie for lead but misses crucial putt in playoff. $779K

4) M. Manassero-17 Lost lead last week and again with 4 bogies on final RD. $382K