Willett only top 20 player at Wentworth this week
... all because of course they don't like
ESPN.COM
By ALEX PERRY
VIRGINIA WATER, Surrey -- The BMW PGA Championship has lost its sparkle.
On May 4, between opening presents and blowing out the 27 candles on his birthday cake, Rory McIlroy decided that, like Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson before him, he wasn't going to play in the European Tour's flagship event, citing a hectic schedule. Justin Rose later pulled out with a back problem.
It means just one player from the world's top 20 -- Masters champion Danny Willett -- will tee it up at Wentworth this week.
McIlroy's withdrawal, while frustrating for European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley and, of course, the fans, is hardly a surprise. He makes little secret of the fact he doesn't like Wentworth's notorious West Course and his record confidently backed up his grumblings. Once he had finally lifted the trophy he'd spent so long struggling to get his hands on, it was common opinion in golfing circles that he would defend his title and that would be it.
Not that his fellow pros are giving him a hard time about it.
"I understand why Rory is not playing," Lee Westwood told reporters at Wentworth. "Unfortunately this time of year there are a lot of tournaments that he enjoys playing in and plays well in.
"I can understand why he went to Quail Hollow and then the Players, and then obviously he wants to support the Irish Open and I know he likes the Memorial. Somewhere along the line, a tournament has to give and unfortunately it's this one. He's supported it in the past, and fair play to him for having won here, and having won last week, as well, at his own tournament and coming back and supporting certain events on the European Tour."
While McIlroy was determined to keep plugging away at Wentworth until he finally cracked it, the likes of Poulter, Stenson and Garcia -- who have all at one point or another voiced their frustrations at Ernie Els' redesigns of the course -- have stayed away.
Westwood is yet to win in his 23 straight years of playing in this affluent corner of Surrey, and he makes no suggestion he is about to give up any time soon.
"It shows the sort of regard I hold the tournament in," he added. "I wouldn't want to miss this week. I've tried to play every year, which obviously I have done. It's somewhere I love coming back to.
"Twenty-three times? Shows how old I'm getting I guess. I've played more times than some of the other players have been on the planet, but there you go. Such is life.
"There are other players that don't like the way this golf course sets up for them, so they miss it because of that. Ideally you would like everybody to play but we don't live in an ideal world. We have to pick and choose where we play, and some people choose not to play this, but I think in general, the top players support The European Tour as much as they can."
Another player who won't be too disappointed to see his main rivals missing from Wentworth is Willett, who is aiming for his first BMW PGA Championship title. The Masters champion's form since Augusta is very much that of a player still punch drunk from juggling the aftermath of winning a first major and welcoming a new-born child into the world: a missed cut at the Players followed by a seven-over-par weekend in Ireland that halted any chances of victory at The K Club.
But Willett insisted he isn't feeling the pressure.
"Coming in as Masters champion [is] a pretty big accolade -- it would have been nice if [McIlroy and Rose] were here to deflect a little bit of that," he joked.
"The expectations are going to be quite high from a lot of other people but I'm not really fussed about other people expecting. I have my own things I want to try and do this week and try and achieve, and from there, hopefully everything pans out nicely and come Sunday we can be in with a chance."
So does Willett, with his new-found fame across the globe, have any plans on skipping Wentworth in the near future?
"Obviously your year is built around majors and World Golf Championships and this one is right in behind it in terms of trying to get it scheduled in so that you pitch up in good form," he said.
"You can't always judge when that's going to happen but you always know it's around the same time of year and just to make sure you've not played too much beforehand, because it's a fantastic golf event.
"It's a pretty special place down here at Wentworth."
Willett's words will be music to the ears of Pelley, who after the abandonment of his biggest names really needs some wins this week -- however small. And with news filtering through that last year's record crowd of 113,640 is expected to be topped in the forthcoming days, that's two in the bag.
Wentworth may have entered its own post-McIlroy era, but the BMW PGA Championship has lost its sparkle? Try telling that to the likes of Westwood, Willett, and the hordes of golf fans getting their fix at one of just four tournaments a year on British soil.
There is life after Rory yet.
Hutch's East Lothian to Wentworth dash
By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Greig Hutcheon shot a final round of 73 for a level par total of 213 and third place in the Tartan Tour's P and H Championship at Renaissance Club, East Lothian - and then set off on the long haul south to Wentworth where he is on the tee today (THURSDAY) in the first round of the European Tour flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship.
... all because of course they don't like
ESPN.COM
By ALEX PERRY
VIRGINIA WATER, Surrey -- The BMW PGA Championship has lost its sparkle.
On May 4, between opening presents and blowing out the 27 candles on his birthday cake, Rory McIlroy decided that, like Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson before him, he wasn't going to play in the European Tour's flagship event, citing a hectic schedule. Justin Rose later pulled out with a back problem.
It means just one player from the world's top 20 -- Masters champion Danny Willett -- will tee it up at Wentworth this week.
McIlroy's withdrawal, while frustrating for European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley and, of course, the fans, is hardly a surprise. He makes little secret of the fact he doesn't like Wentworth's notorious West Course and his record confidently backed up his grumblings. Once he had finally lifted the trophy he'd spent so long struggling to get his hands on, it was common opinion in golfing circles that he would defend his title and that would be it.
Not that his fellow pros are giving him a hard time about it.
"I understand why Rory is not playing," Lee Westwood told reporters at Wentworth. "Unfortunately this time of year there are a lot of tournaments that he enjoys playing in and plays well in.
"I can understand why he went to Quail Hollow and then the Players, and then obviously he wants to support the Irish Open and I know he likes the Memorial. Somewhere along the line, a tournament has to give and unfortunately it's this one. He's supported it in the past, and fair play to him for having won here, and having won last week, as well, at his own tournament and coming back and supporting certain events on the European Tour."
While McIlroy was determined to keep plugging away at Wentworth until he finally cracked it, the likes of Poulter, Stenson and Garcia -- who have all at one point or another voiced their frustrations at Ernie Els' redesigns of the course -- have stayed away.
Westwood is yet to win in his 23 straight years of playing in this affluent corner of Surrey, and he makes no suggestion he is about to give up any time soon.
"It shows the sort of regard I hold the tournament in," he added. "I wouldn't want to miss this week. I've tried to play every year, which obviously I have done. It's somewhere I love coming back to.
"Twenty-three times? Shows how old I'm getting I guess. I've played more times than some of the other players have been on the planet, but there you go. Such is life.
"There are other players that don't like the way this golf course sets up for them, so they miss it because of that. Ideally you would like everybody to play but we don't live in an ideal world. We have to pick and choose where we play, and some people choose not to play this, but I think in general, the top players support The European Tour as much as they can."
Another player who won't be too disappointed to see his main rivals missing from Wentworth is Willett, who is aiming for his first BMW PGA Championship title. The Masters champion's form since Augusta is very much that of a player still punch drunk from juggling the aftermath of winning a first major and welcoming a new-born child into the world: a missed cut at the Players followed by a seven-over-par weekend in Ireland that halted any chances of victory at The K Club.
But Willett insisted he isn't feeling the pressure.
"Coming in as Masters champion [is] a pretty big accolade -- it would have been nice if [McIlroy and Rose] were here to deflect a little bit of that," he joked.
"The expectations are going to be quite high from a lot of other people but I'm not really fussed about other people expecting. I have my own things I want to try and do this week and try and achieve, and from there, hopefully everything pans out nicely and come Sunday we can be in with a chance."
So does Willett, with his new-found fame across the globe, have any plans on skipping Wentworth in the near future?
"Obviously your year is built around majors and World Golf Championships and this one is right in behind it in terms of trying to get it scheduled in so that you pitch up in good form," he said.
"You can't always judge when that's going to happen but you always know it's around the same time of year and just to make sure you've not played too much beforehand, because it's a fantastic golf event.
"It's a pretty special place down here at Wentworth."
Willett's words will be music to the ears of Pelley, who after the abandonment of his biggest names really needs some wins this week -- however small. And with news filtering through that last year's record crowd of 113,640 is expected to be topped in the forthcoming days, that's two in the bag.
Wentworth may have entered its own post-McIlroy era, but the BMW PGA Championship has lost its sparkle? Try telling that to the likes of Westwood, Willett, and the hordes of golf fans getting their fix at one of just four tournaments a year on British soil.
There is life after Rory yet.
Hutch's East Lothian to Wentworth dash
By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Greig Hutcheon shot a final round of 73 for a level par total of 213 and third place in the Tartan Tour's P and H Championship at Renaissance Club, East Lothian - and then set off on the long haul south to Wentworth where he is on the tee today (THURSDAY) in the first round of the European Tour flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship.
For
the last few years, Hutcheon has qualified through his PGA in Scotland
Order of Merit placing to play at Wentworth and he rates it the
highlight of his season.
"I'm
playing well with back-to-back pro-am wins and now finishing third in
the P and H championship so I am really looking forward to Wentworth
tournament," said Greig, who now plays out of the Paul Lawrie Golf
Centre Inchmarlo.
Hutch
earned £3,500 for finishing three strokes behind Paul O'Hara and
Graham Fox yesterday (Wednesday) when O'Hara won a play-off for the
title.
Scott Henderson (Kings Links) and Gavin Hay (Grantown on Spey) tied seventh on 217 and earned £1,040 each.
SCROLL DOWN FOR A FULL REPORT ON THE LAST DAY'S PLAY AND ALL THE FINAL TOTALS
ends
Labels: EUROPEAN TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Wednesday, May 25, 2016
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