Matt Wallace leads BMW PGA Championship with a 65 (-7) Round One report Londoner Matt Wallace delighted the home crowds at Wentworth in the opening round of the BMW PGA Championship, the fourth Rolex Series event of the 2019 Race to Dubai, as the 29-year-old carded a flawless seven under 65 to move into a one-stroke lead. The sun blazed down upon the pristine Wentworth Club on Day One as the prestigious championship – ushering in a new era as it moved date from May to September - welcomed a total of 19,612 fans. Wallace, who won three of his four European Tour titles in 2018 but is yet to win this year, was the star of the show as he opened with a birdie three at the first before a stunning eagle-birdie-birdie run from the fourth hole saw him reach the turn in five under par. The Londoner cruised home with a couple more birdies to move to the top, ahead of Spain’s Jon Rahm and Swede Henrik Stenson on six under par, while their 2018 Ryder Cup-winning team-mate Justin Rose was a shot further back after a five under 67. Player quotes: Matt Wallace “I’m very happy. Whenever you can get off to a start like that, it boosts your confidence and I’m just going on from last week really. I said to my caddie Smarty when we were walking to the first tee, let's keep the same focus as how we ended last week - just carry it on. “It's very nice and pleasing to shoot that around here. I'm always grinding, working on trying to figure it out and get better. “It’s the biggest event for me now, my home event. I've played the course plenty of times before coming into this week, and I feel comfortable. It always helps when your game's in shape, as well.” Jon Rahm “I enjoy the Rolex Series events. I really don't know what it is, if it's coincidence or just the quality of people and players out here that make me want to play better. But at the same time, it’s also the history of those events in a place like this - there's a lot of golf history and it’s really fun to be around. “You need to pick your battles on this course. You definitely need to be swinging good. Any little mistake you're going to pay for it.”   Henrik Stenson “The greens are probably as good as I've ever seen them. So it’s been good for the golf course and the conditions to move into a later date, no question. It's always hit and miss in May in mainland Europe to have perfect conditions. The guys have done a great job with the course, the greens are very nice.  “Looking back at my career, I don't think I've been having too many wins and too many really good finishes when I haven't started with a decent round or better. It sets up the week nicely and I just hope I can continue with that.”  Justin Rose “It's brilliant (being here in September). It's such a bonus with the weather, as well. Everyone is enjoying being outside. It's almost nicer than summer. It's got that nice crispness in the air as well, and the golf course - I've never seen it better. I think it's really settled after all the changes through the years they have made, I think they have found their feet. “My short game was I think what kept me in it. A couple of key saves when I missed the greens, I kept my up-and-downs going and played the par fives well.”   Francesco Molinari “It's been a great feeling coming back because it's the tournament that kind of kick-started my great run last year. You come back here and you feel how different the last few months has been. It's been more than a year, as well, so it's been quite a long time. “It was maybe more up-and-down than I would like but I managed to fight hard and the short game was good enough to keep me in the round and nice birdie to finish at the last.”   FIRST-ROUND SCORES  PAR 72 65 M Wallace (Eng) 66 J Rahm (Spn) , H Stenson (Swe) 67 J Rose (Eng) 68 C Bezuidenhout (SAf) , A Pavan (Ita) , P Casey (Eng) , J Luiten (Ned) , G Coetzee (SAf) , D Willett (Eng) , E Els (SAf) , S Soderberg (Swe) , S Jamieson (Sco) 69 A Noren (Swe) , R Cabrera Bello (Spn) , F Molinari (Ita) , V Hovland (Norway) , R MacIntyre (Sco) , S Brown (Eng) , M Jiménez (Spn) , R Langasque (Fra) , J Smith (Eng) , R Knox (Sco) , A Johnston (Eng) , A Quiros (Spn) , J Guerrier (Fra)  70 M Kaymer (Ger) , C Wood (Eng) , M Kinhult (Swe) , R Fisher (Eng) , M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) , M Schwab (Austria) , T Fleetwood (Eng) , A Chesters (Eng) , J Lagergren (Swe) , G Fernandez-Castaño (Spn) , P Waring (Eng) , J Walters (SAf) , T Finau (USA) , E Van Rooyen (SAf) , P Reed (USA) 71 R Sterne (SAf) , T Aiken (SAf) , A Sullivan (Eng) , R Wattel (Fra) , A Romero (Arg) , J Suri (USA) , J Scrivener (Australia) , H Li (China) , A Rai (Eng) , T Pulkkanen (Finland) , J Wang (S Korea) , R Ramsay (Sco) , Y Miyazato (Jpn) , T Lewis (Eng) , L Westwood (Eng) , F Zanotti (Paraguay) , E Molinari (Ita) , M Korhonen (Fin)land , R Paratore (Ita) , S Sharma (Ind)ia , T Immelman (SAf) , L Slattery (Eng) , A Putnam (USA) , T Detry (Belgium) , S Horsfield (Eng) , K Kitayama (USA) , R Coles (Eng) 72 S Lowry (Irel) , S Chawrasia (India) , O Fisher (Eng) , J Campillo (Spn) , B Grace (SAf) , S Hend (Australia) , N Elvira (Spn) , B Hebert (Fra) , B Stone (SAf) , R Jacquelin (Fra) , A Otaegui (Spn , G Green (Malaysia) , M Cort (Eng) , R Gouveia (Portugal) , A Wu (China) , B Horschel (USA) 73 M Southgate (Eng) , M Fitzpatrick (Eng) , N Colsaerts (Belgium) , T Hatton (Eng) , I Poulter (Eng) , C Paisley (Eng) , P Harrington (Irel) , D Lipsky (USA) , S Kjeldsen (Denmark) , B Dredge (Wales) , K Aphibarnrat (Thai) , D Fichardt (SAf) , J Harding (SAf) , M Kieffer (Ger) , T Pieters (Belgium)  74 H Porteous (SAf) , B Wiesberger (Austria) , W Ormsby (Australia) , G Migliozzi (Ita) , T Bjørn (Denmark) 75 D Law (Sco) , A Levy (Fra) , R McEvoy (Eng) , L Bjerregaard (Denmark) , P O'Hara (Sco) , R Rock (Eng) , D Howell (Eng) , H Tanihara (Jpn) , L Herbert (Australia) 76 D Drysdale (Sco) , L Donald (Eng) , D Burmester (SAf) , A Björk (Swe) , R Karlsson (Swe) , R McIlroy (NIre) , J Morrison (Eng) , S Gallacher (Sco) , 77 T Jaidee (Thai) , P Larrazábal (Spn) , J Dantorp (Swe) , 78 J Olazábal (Spn) , R Fox (NZ)  79 D Dixon (Eng) , E Pepperell (Eng) , M Pavon (Fra) 80 P Dunne (Irel) 81 J Kruyswijk (SAf)