Tournament: BMW PGA Championship
Rolex Series: Three of five Rolex Series events
Race to Dubai: Tournament 37 of 44
Venue: Wentworth Club, Surrey, England
Prize Fund: $9,000,000
Hashtag: #BMWPGA #RolexSeries #DPWT
Ryan Fox is drawing on happy memories as he prepares to defend his BMW PGA Championship title at Wentworth Club this week.
The New Zealander won his maiden Rolex Series crown 12 months ago as a big finish saw him claim the coveted title in front of packed galleries, including his onlooking family, at the prestigious English venue.
The four-time DP World Tour winner proclaimed his victory as his best achievement in golf, which set him on course to secure dual membership on the PGA TOUR as he finished a career-high fifth on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.
While the 37-year-old has enjoyed a solid season on both the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR, where he has secured two top-ten finishes, he has not tasted victory since his last visit to Wentworth, and he would love to once again experience the calmness that took over on the back nine on Sunday last year.
Fox will be joined by Major champion Justin Rose who is preparing to contend for what he admits would be a bucket list victory.
The four-time Ryder Cup winner has finished inside the top ten five times at the BMW PGA Championship, including runner-up in 2007 and 2012, and arrives this week having missed the cut only three times in his 19 appearances in this event.
The field at Wentworth also includes former BMW PGA Championship winner Rory McIlroy and Scotsman Bob MacIntyre – who won Rolex Series events in Dubai and Scotland respectively earlier this year – their Ryder Cup team mates Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Nicolai Højgaard, Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka, and last week’s Amgen Irish Open winner Rasmus Højgaard.
Player quotes
Ryan Fox: It’s hard to describe what it is, but seeing my name up there, seeing me up there, defending champion, is pretty amazing, and it’s going to be a cool week to come back and defend here.
It was the calmest I’ve been on a golf course. Calmest I’ve been on this golf course coming down the stretch on a Thursday, let alone a Sunday with a chance to win.
It was just a very, in-the-zone experience last year. I didn’t think about anything else but hitting the shot I hit. I was just in control and then it was a bit of a whirlwind last year. Looking back, those are memories I can’t buy. Amazing to have those and looking back on the golf I played last year, it was calm and actually felt relatively easy. Wish I could get back there again.
You hit one perfect shot, like I can do that, and you don’t hit another one for a hundred shots and you go, this game is so frustrating. I had probably one of the best nine holes of golf I’ll ever play in my life on that back nine on Sunday last year. If it is the best nine holes of golf I’ll of play, it was a good situation to do it in.
Justin Rose: Fantastic to be back at the BMW PGA Championship, especially when the sun is shining. Obviously it’s getting to the back end of summer now and you’re always just hoping it can last one extra week, that we can have a great week this week, and it’s looking set to be perfect. Golf course is magnificent, beautifully green, and staged just perfectly for a big week.
Obviously a huge event on the DP World Tour, and a bucket list event for me from a personal point of view, memories of watching all the greats come through here as a kid. Special to be a part of it and to see my name on the occasional poster and things like that, it’s definitely always a slightly surreal tournament for me from that point of view.
I’ve seen my caddie Fooch win it with Billy Horschel, so it would be nice to win it with him as well, 100 per cent. It’s definitely one of my Majors [I’d like to win], and then pretty much outside of the Majors, I couldn’t really think of an event I’d love to win more than this one.
