Our man takes a good look at England's only European Tour event of the year, where the entire Ryder Cup team will be putting in an appearance. What will it take to win around Surrey's finest? Read Steve's in-depth preview here...
Tournament History
The first BMW PGA Championship was played at Wentworth back in 1972. Three years later it moved to Royal St.Georges, which hosted the event for the next three years, and then for the six years from 1978 to 1983 it was played at a number of different venues before it returned to Wentworth in 1984, where it's been staged ever since. This will by the 42nd edition of the European Tour's flagship tournament and again, sadly, it's the only European Tour event of the season to be held in England.
Venue
Wentworth (West Course), Surrey, England.
Course Details
Par 72 -7,302 yards
Stroke Index in 2012 - 73.25
Opened in 1926 and designed by Harry Colt, the West Course, also referred to as Burma Road, has undergone a series of alterations in recent years, under the supervision of Ernie Els.
All the greens were remodelled in 2009/10 but the biggest change of all came on the par five 18th hole. At the mercy to modern equipment, the old 18th was an almost given birdie and a great eagle chance but now, with a dirty great stream snaking its way in front of the green, it's a stunning risk/reward finishing hole.
Poor Ernie had to put up with a lot of criticism in 2010 when players first met with the new design and in truth, it didn't quite work. Most players attempting to find the green in two found the water and the vast majority decided to play it as a three-shot hole so prior to last year's renewal the landing area was extended and flattened out and the green was rebuilt.
After two years as a ridiculously tough par 4, the 12th hole was changed back to a par five before last year's renewal too and it finished the week as the second easiest hole. Only the par 5 4th played easier.
Wentworth is a tight, tree-lined, fairly flat course with tricky-to-read greens that run at just 10 on the stimpmeter.
Check out the link below for more on the course.
Useful Sites
Event Site
Course Tour
Twitter Link
Tee Times
Weather Forecast
TV Coverage
Live on Sky Sports - 10am on Thursday and Friday and 12.30pm on Saturday and Sunday. Highlights only over the weekend on BBC.
Last Five Winners
2012 - Luke Donald -15
2011 - Luke Donald -6 (Playoff) (Par 71)
2010 - Simon Khan -6 (Par 71)
2009 - Paul Casey -17
2008 - Miguel Angel Jimenez -11 (Playoff)
What will it take to win the BMW PGA Championship?
Being able to play in windy conditions and having the experience of the Wentworth wind is crucial. As well as a yardage book, the players are issued with a wind map but just how much it helps I've no idea. It can be quite baffling at times, you can be in one spot on the course and barely feel the wind but then you can walk along a short while and it'll be blowing a gale! The course plays very much harder in breezy conditions and it can be very confusing for those with little course experience.
A straight game is definitely preferable to a long one and patience is a prerequisite too. To win here you need to bide your time, avoid trouble and make your score on the long holes.
Is there an angle in?
Course form stands up really well and it often pays to follow those that have shown a liking to the place already. The likes of Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell and Padraig Harrington always seem to struggle and are simply not worth persevering with. In contrast, plenty of players, and some of them far from fashionable, play well here year after year. You need to oppose the Wentworth wobblers and get with the Wentworth winners.
Is there an identikit winner?
British players, and English players in particular have a great record in the event and an Englishman has won the last four renewals.
There have been some big-priced winners in the past and the unheralded Simon Khan took the title in 2010, the first year the event was played following the major course changes, but over the last two years the very best have been slugging it out come Sunday.
Lee Westwood pushed Luke Donald all the way two years ago and last year it was Justin Rose. It's a sterner test than ever now, especially in the wind, and I'll be surprised if we get a shock winner this year.
In-Play Tactics
At the time of writing, the forecast suggests strong winds will be an ever-present over the first two days, before conditions improve over the weekend. It's going to be fairly cold too, so don't expect low-scoring. It may be that the market doesn't quite recognise a good score on Thursday morning and there might be a bit of value about early on.
Ordinarily I'd expect around - 6 to be leading after day one but I fancy it could be considerably higher this year.
With two par 5s to finish, anything can happen and big swings can occur late on. There were only eight eagles made all week on 17 and 18 last year (four on each) but a birdie-birdie finish isn't uncommon. And nor is a bogey-bogey finish either. Luke Donald blew a great chance here in 2010 when he double-bogeyed the 17th and now that there's water in front of the 18th, anything can happen there too.
Market Leaders
Nick Faldo won this event four times, and Bernard Langer and Colin Montgomerie both did so on three occasions, so multiple wins are fairly common. Monty won his three-in-a-row between 1998 and 2000 and Luke Donald has an excellent chance of emulating him this time around.
Second and third favourites, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, both have largely disappointing form around Wentworth and both are readily dismissed at the prices, and so too is Justin Rose.
With two second placed finishes around Wentworth, Rose has the course form in the book but he's been off the boil for a while now and his missed cut at the Players Championship hardly bodes well.
The entire winning Ryder Cup team from Medinah is present this week and I have to wonder if that's the only reason Sergio Garcia is playing. He's been quite well-supported in the market but given he hasn't played in this event since 2000 I'm more than happy to pass him up. Romilly Evans looks at the Spaniard in depth in this piece here.
Selections
Although I've only had a very small wager on Luke Donald, I felt I couldn't leave him out of my calculations entirely. He isn't quite at the top of his game at present but nobody in the field plays Wentworth as well as him and I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised to see him win it for a third straight year.
I've outlined the case for South African, Branden Grace, here and for small stakes only I've given his fellow countryman, Ernie Els, one more try at a big price.
The Big Easy used to live at Wentworth and he owned the Volvo Match Play here, winning it a record seven times, but for some bizarre reason, he's never won this one. He had to deflect an awful lot of flak two years ago over the course changes and then last year he lost the plot over the watering of the greens. Hopefully he can have a more peaceful week this year and just concentrate on contending.
He's been putting well of late, he'll be in the minority when it comes to being able to figure out the wind over the first two days and he was far too big at 70.069/1.
Playing on a medical exemption twelve months ago, and following five straight missed cuts, Richard Sterne really caught the eye with his 6th placed finish. He was also third here in 2007 and over the last six months on the European Tour, he's the number one performer on the par fives. He's already a winner this season, having claimed the Joburg Open in February, and I can see him going really well this week.
Paul Lawrie has a great record at Wentworth and the tough conditions on Thursday and Friday may play to his strengths. He's not the fastest starter and often has too much to do over the weekend but it might be a bit of grind over the first two days this year and that should suit him.
Putting has been his weakness this year but he tweeted yesterday that the "putter had been good this week".
My final selection is Brett Rumford, who I was very surprised to get 120.0119/1 about. Rumford has won his last two stroke play events and was 4th here in 2006, so he has both current and course form. He grew up in Perth, playing the tree-lined Lake Karrinyup Country Club and contending with the notorious Fremantle Doctor. He has one of the finest short games in the world at present, it won't matter a jot how hard the wind blows and there's no way he should be trading at a tripe-figure price.
Pre-Event Selections
Luke Donald @ 9.617/2
Branden Grace @ 55.054/1
Ernie Els @ 70.069/1
Richard Sterne @ 70.069/1 (Fixed Odds)
Paul Lawrie @ 75.074/1
Brett Rumford @ 120.0119/1
I'll be back later on with a preview of the week's other event, The Crowne Plaza Invitational.
*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter
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