The first round of the flagship European Tour event, the BMW PGA Championship, takes place at Wentworth on Thursday as the entire field get to taste the course competitively for the first time in the latest Rolex Series event of the season.
They will find a soft course so will appreciate the need to score low to get themselves off to a good start and put themselves in a good position for a slice of the riches and the many benefits that come with these Rolex Series tournaments.
First Round Leader
Once again in a Rolex Series tournament we’ll be looking at the first round leader market first. Having had players go very well in the last two first round leader previews we’ve done but find scoring lower than expected I’ll be hoping a bit more luck comes my way. The first thing to note is the field is split into morning and afternoon waves with players off the first and ninth tees in both waves. The other thing to check is the weather and given that there is less than six hours between the first tee off in the morning and the last one in the afternoon there isn’t a huge change although the later starters might see less rain so that is the angle I’m going with.
There was a lot to like about the game of Ian Poulter last week and but for one bad swing in the final round he could well contended even stronger than he did down the stretch but he finished Sunday with successive birdies to go into this week feeling good. He is out alongside his best friend Justin Rose and the player he has mentored for a while in Sam Horsfield so this should be a very comfortable group for the Englishman. He has played around here enough to know how to play the course so he can take advantage of his afternoon tee time.
The other player I’ll take a chance on is Adri Arnaus, a player who is high up in most of the tee to green statistics each week and who is due to go very close to winning an event when we get back to traditional courses like this one rather than resort shootouts or links tracks. Winning in this company might be a tough ask but getting off to a good start with the quality of his long game and potentially being on the right side of the draw shouldn’t be as big an ask. At a huge price I’ll take a chance.
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Thursday 3 Balls
As ever the field are split into threes for the opening round on Thursday with the first and the ninth tee being used this week rather than the tenth with the front nine par two shots less than the back nine. A couple of groups standout in the morning wave off the ninth tee. The focus of attention will be the 08.05 BST group which has Patrick Reed, Lee Westwood and Tyrrell Hatton in it. 10 minutes later the Erik van Rooyen, Graeme McDowell and John Catlin group will also have televised scrutiny. Moving into the afternoon the two main groups are Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and defending champion Danny Willett at 12.15 BST and then Justin Rose, Ian Poulter and the twice winner at the UK Swing, Sam Horsfield. I like two bets, one in each wave.
Sean Crocker/Chris Paisley/Jeunghun Wang
Match tees off at 08.35 BST
The seventh group off the first tee in the morning wave sees three European Tour regulars in action when the American player Sean Crocker goes out alongside Chris Paisley and Jeunghun Wang in one of the lower key groups of the session.
I say that because the three players haven’t really been contending too much recently, although in their own way they have all shown some fair form in the latest period. Wang was in the top 15 in Scotlandd last week while Paisley went well at the Wales Open. It is Crocker who I like here though. His ball striking hasn’t matched his results yet but it is only a matter of time before it does. I’m not sure he can contend in this company but he can certainly beat his playing partners here. Paisley has a terrible record in the opening rounds here with totals of 75, 78, 79, 68 and 73 so it is hard to see him being a factor. Wang has had better of it around here but until last week his form was very ordinary. I think the tee to green game is going to be big this week and Crocker has more than an edge.
Miguel Angel Jimenez/Victor Perez/Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Match tees off at 12.45 BST
The fourth last group off of the first tee on Thursday afternoon sees the veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez out alongside the relative newbies on the European Tour in Victor Perez and Christiaan Bezuidenhout in what should be a decent three ball.
Jimenez has plenty of experience around here having won the tournament and had a few other top 10s but he’s getting no younger and last week was his first event on the European Tour since the English Championship a couple of months ago. He missed the cut and I’m not sure I’m expecting him to go much better here with this course likely to play long. Bezuidenhout was third here on debut last year but his form on either side of the pond has been pretty average and I would be surprised if he is all that competitive here. If Victor Perez wasn’t on debut here he would probably have been in my outright selections because this track should be made for him. He is a brilliant driver of the ball and very solid with the long irons. Winning might be beyond him here given that others will know the nuances of the course but I fancy the Frenchman to win this three ball.
Tips
Back I.Poulter First Round Leader (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with 888sport (1/5 1-6)
Back him here:
DEAD HEAT WON – Back A.Arnaus First Round Leader (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-7)
DEAD HEAT WON – Back S.Crocker to beat C.Paisley & J.Wang for a 3/10 stake at 2.88 with Boylesports
Back them here:
WON – Back V.Perez to beat M-A.iimenez & C.Bezuidenhout for a 3/10 stake at 2.88 with Betfair
Back him here:
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