PREVIEW: 2022 DP World Tour – BMW PGA Championship

2021/2022 DP World Tour
Rolex Series
BMW PGA Championship
Wentworth (West Course), Surrey, England
8th-11th September

LIV Golf Cloud hanging over DP World Tour’s flagship event

Forget Major Championship golf. Forget the bitter feuds engendered by the Ryder Cup. This week’s BMW PGA Championship promises to be the tensest atmosphere that you could possibly imagine around a golf course.

The LIV Golf-induced existential crisis takes centre stage this week, with around 18 LIV Golf rebels preparing to tee it up at European golf’s flagship event.

The rebels have been granted the right to play pending further legal proceedings in February. But those expecting old-fashioned English reserve to win the day and civility to be maintained could be in for a surprise this week.

The rumblings of discontent are palpable, with the likes of FedEx Cup winner Rory McIlroy and defending champ Billy Horschel openly bemoaning the presence of these players.

How are McIlroy and Rahm supposed to engage with former Ryder Cup teammates such as Westwood and Poulter? Now anyone who reads my articles will know that I’m completely against the entire LIV Golf enterprise. I think it’s a garish monstrosity that spits in the face of golfing tradition.

But perhaps there is a slight degree of hypocrisy from the likes of McIlroy and co. Many of them barely play on the DP World Tour anymore due to the riches offered in America.

This is all bubbling up to what could be one of the most fascinating golf tournaments in recent memory. Period.

BMW PGA Championship

Originally known as the British PGA Championship and first held in 1955, the BMW PGA Championship has been the flagship event of the DP World Tour since its inception in 1972.

Previously staged in May, the event was moved into an autumnal slot in 2019 after the US PGA Championship was brought forward in the calendar. And it has proved to be something of a masterstroke by the beleaguered Keith Pelley.

In the aftermath of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, many of Europe’s finest have started to make the trek back across the pond for this event. That’s especially true this year, with the PGA Tour having a two-week break between seasons.

This will be the second Rolex Series event this season following the Abu Dhabi Championship in January. And this will be the 39th consecutive staging of this event at the iconic Wentworth Club.

Wentworth

Wentworth is arguably the most famous non-links course in British golf. The Harry Colt design was opened in 1926 but it has undergone a series of fairly radical renovations.

The 18th had become a comically easy par 5 by modern standards. But the introduction of a stream in front of the green has added a delicious risk-reward element to proceedings.

It is a famously tight, tree-lined heathland track. It is certainly not there to be exploited by the bombers (Luke Donald won this event in back-to-back years).

While I would favour accuracy over distance this week, I think GIR could be the most important stat. When Billy Horschel won last year, he became the 10th winner in the last 16 editions to finish inside the top four in finding greens.

This is also a very nuanced course that tends to reward familiarity. So, it would probably behove you to focus on players with pretty solid course credentials.

The Contenders

All the LIV drama aside, this must be one of the best fields in recent BMW PGA Championship history. 2014 champ Rory McIlroy is fresh off another FedEx Cup victory and will be doubly incentivised this week as the standard-bearer of golfing tradition.

Jon Rahm has endured a pretty frustrating 2022. He just seems to have regressed right when it looked like he could dominate the game for years to come. This could be the perfect opportunity for him to rejuvenate his game.

US Open champ Matthew Fitzpatrick has a surprisingly mediocre record around Wentworth. One would think that a player with his accuracy and ball-striking ability would thrive around this layout.

The likes of Shane Lowry and Viktor Hovland should also grab quite a lot of attention this week. And defending champ Billy Horschel- arguably European golf’s favourite American golfer- will no doubt be keen to become the latest back-to-back winner.

Let’s hope that we can still enjoy the golf amidst all the political chaos this week.

Past Winners

2021: Billy Horschel (-19)
2020: Tyrell Hatton (-19)
2019: Danny Willett (-20)
2018: Francesco Molinari (-17)
2017: Alex Noren (-11)
2016: Chris Wood (-9)

To Win Outright:

Rory McIlroy 6/1 | Jon Rahm 8/1 | Matthew Fitzpatrick 12/1 | Shane Lowry 18/1 | Viktor Hovland 22/1

Value Bets

Patrick Reed- To Win 33/1 | To Place 7/1

Patrick Reed is the man to go for if this does turn out to be a ‘goodies vs baddies’ affair. The Texan simply thrives in pressure-cooker situations (just look at his Ryder Cup history). Reed clearly loves Wentworth, finishing third in 2019 and fourth in 2020. He also recently finished third at the LIV Golf event in Portland. He wasn’t as effective in Boston last week (though he did finish quite nicely). Reed is just the type of guy who will be motivated to prove LIV naysayers wrong this week.

Ewen Ferguson- To Win 80/1 | To Place 17/1

80/1 is just an irresistible price for a man in this kind of form. He has a win and a runner-up in his last three starts. He is one of the most in-form players in the field, ranking first, first and fifth in strokes gained tee-to-green in three of his last four events. And he will count himself hugely unlucky not to pick up the win in Denmark last week. Oliver Wilson sunk a 64-foot birdie putt on the 17th to beat him by one. Sure, this is going to be a seismic leap forward in terms of field depth. But he will be keen to impress Luke Donald with Ryder Cup points starting this week.

The Man to Beat- Shane Lowry- To Win 18/1 | To Place 39/10

I’m inclined to swerve Rory this week after such a long campaign. I also wonder how he will deal with all the distractions this week. Also, I don’t think Rahm is playing nearly well enough to justify an 8/1 price. Shane Lowry is certainly a player due a win this year. He came painfully close to victory at the Honda Classic, with an 18th hole downpour virtually stealing the event from him. He also collected T3 finishes at both the Masters and RBC Heritage. He finished T12 at the recent BMW Championship and he has shown real consistency in this event of late. He has finished T17 or better in the last three editions of the BMW PGA.