Golf Betting Tips & Preview- BMW PGA Championship 2014

Rose Wentworth.jpg

Golf Betting Tips & Preview- BMW PGA Championship 2014- Course Form The Key At Wentworth

Course : Wentworth Club, Virginia Water, Surrey, England – Par 72 at 7,302 Yards – Opened in 1926 and designed by Harry Colt, the West Course, also referred to as Burma Road, has undergone a series of alterations in the past few years with the help from South African Ernie Els.

All the greens were remodelled in 2009/10 but the biggest change came at the par five 18th hole. With the fantastic modern equipment, the old 18th was an almost given birdie and a great eagle chance but now, with a stream in front of the green, it's a stunning risk/reward finishing hole and Lee Westwood fell foul to this back in 2011 when in a dual with Luke Donald, Westwood found the stream which dashed his chances of victory.  Wentworth is a flat course, but the wind here at times can cause serious havoc with club selections.  Greens have all new contours and bunkering is either new or deepened. Greens on the 8th & 18th have been rebuilt since last year’s event.  The 2nd green has been re-turfed this winter and 18th fairway has been extended 30 meters in the landing area, also the 12th hole is now a par 5 for the tournament.

Inside The Field :  Rory McIlroy heads a stellar field for the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, McIlroy is still searching for his first victory this calendar year as the European Tour heads to Surrey, England.  No fewer than ten Major Champions will tee up in a very strong field for the diamond edition of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club.

Martin Kaymer, the 2010 US PGA Champion whose dramatic one-shot victory in the Players Championship at Sawgrass was the perfect preparation for the  BMW PGA Championship, is joined by Justin Rose, last year’s US Open Champion, four-time Major winner Ernie Els and 2011 Masters Tournament champion Charl Schwartzel for the 60th edition of The European Tour’s flagship event.

Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy will attempt to win the title for the first time, while Padraig Harrington, a three-time Major champion, double Masters winner José Maria Olazábal, Retief Goosen, the two-time US Open Champion, and Paul Lawrie, who won the 1999 Open Championship, are also in the star-studded line-up.

One player who will not be appearing at Wentworth Club, however, is the 2010 US Open Champion Graeme McDowell, who will be at home in Florida with wife Kristin, who is expecting their first child later this summer.  The BMW PGA Championship still boasts a superb field including four former World Number Ones – Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, the latter of course fresh from his victory in the Players Championship at Sawgrass.  The diamond anniversary celebrations will be boosted by the reuniting of all the players – McDowell apart – from Europe’s 2012 Ryder Cup victory, along with team Captain Olazábal.

Ian Poulter, who won four points from five in inspiring Europe to what is now known as the ‘Miracle at Medinah’, will return to Wentworth’s hallowed West Course, as will his team-mates Nicolas Colsaerts, Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Peter Hanson, Paul Lawrie, Francesco Molinari and Lee Westwood.

Donald will attempt to become only the fifth player in history to win the BMW PGA Championship three times or more, following his magnificent back-to-back triumphs in 2011 and 2012. He would follow Sir Nick Faldo (four victories), Peter Alliss, Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie (all three victories).

The Englishman is one of five former World Number Ones in action, with McIlroy, Westwood, Els and Kaymer all having reached the summit of the Official World Golf Ranking in the past.

Henrik Stenson,  the 2013 Race to Dubai Champion, makes his first appearance in the event since 2010, while Denmarks Thomas Björn will be seeking a 16th European Tour victory, and his first at Wentworth Club.

Italy’s 21 year old Matteo Manassero will defend the title, having won in record-breaking style 12 months ago, when he became the youngest winner in the event’s history. At the other end of the spectrum, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, one of eight BMW PGA Champions in the field, and winner of last weeks Open de Espana Champion will be looking to extend his record as The European Tour’s oldest champion.

The Spaniard will be joined at Wentworth by fellow former winners Donald, Simon Khan,  David Howell, Scott Drummond and Olazábal. 

Previous Winners

2013 – Matteo Manassero

2012 – Luke Donald

2011 – Luke Donald

2010 – Simon Khan

2009 – Paul Casey

Tournament Records :

72 Hole Record – 269 – Anders Hansen ( 2002 ),  Scott Drummond ( 2004 )

18 Hole Record – 63 – Peter Alliss ( 1961 ), Wayne Riley ( 1991 ), Angel Cabrera ( 2001 )

 

Selections

My selections this week are from players that have finished in the top 10 in the last two years at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, looking back over the history of the tournament it becomes apparent that course form is the key to success around this lovely venue.  Also British players have a very good record on this track, over the past five events here the four have been English ( Luke Donald x 2 ).  The course seems to suit a certain type of golfer, its certainly a course were the precision type golfer should beat the powerhouse.  Wind can also play a major factor here at Wentworth, if the course receives some bad weather this weekend look at golfers who play well in those type of conditions.

Luke Donald  14/1 Win- Coral- Open a new Coral account by clicking this link bet just £5 and get a free £20 bet!

At 14/1 Luke seems very good value to win this event for the third time in four years.  Donald has played six events on the European Tour this season without much success, he has performed much better in America were he has played in nine events making eight cuts, he has accumulated three top ten finishes, his best finish so far this season was at the RBC Heritage event at Harbour Town back in April, when Matt Kuchar chipped in from the 18th hole bunker to snatch the title from Luke's grasp.  Donald loves playing round Wentworth and this should stand him in good stead this week, his record round this track was nothing short of outstanding between 2010 and 2012, where it stood as 2nd / won / won.  Luke had a poor tournament here last year when he missed the cut, but he comes here this year in much better form.

Justin Rose  12/1 Win- William Hill- Open a new William Hill account by clicking this link and get a free £25 bet.

Justin has played in four events on the European Tour schedule so far this term and he has made every cut, his best effort on the tour so far was way back in December at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, where he finished in 7th place.  Justin, like Donald above, plays a lot of their golf in America, and over the past few weeks the Englishman looks like he is playing himself into fine form after a struggle with injury – he has had three successive tournaments finishing in the top ten on each occasion, one of these top tens was at Sawgrass which shows the ' boy ' is in form.  Justin also has course form here as he was runner up to above selection Donald back in 2012, while in 2010 he also notched up another top ten round this venue.

Ian Poulter  45/1 Each Way- SkyBET- Open a new SkyBET account by clicking this link and get a ‘Risk Free’ £30 bet.

Ian does not have the greatest record around this track, but he did finish in the top ten here back in 2012, this should give the colourful Englishman some hope to have a good week here at Wentworth.  Ian has won twelve times on the European Tour and at the current odds the bookmakers have on him at, he looks fantastic value for someone so experienced.  Poulter's form so far this season has been very patchy, but his last performance on the European Tour was promising when at the Volvo China Open he hit two weekend rounds of 67 to finish the tournament in fifth position.  If Ian can get his iron play in shape this week I am positive he can win for the first time since November 2012.

Eddie Pepperell  150/1 Each Way- Bet365- Open a new Bet365 account and receive a 100% deposit bonus up to £200!

23 Year old Pepperell burst onto the European golfing scene here at Wentworth last year, when the Oxfordshire born Eddie finished the tournament in sixth position. The course seems to suit the Englishman and I am sure he will be relishing the opportunity to test his wits against the best players in Europe again here this week.  Pepperell has had a struggle so far this season, he has played in eleven events on tour of these eleven tournaments he has only made the weekend on four occasions.  His best finish on tour to date was at last weeks event the Open de Espana where he finished in a positive 24th position, this was including a dreadful round of 79 which dashed any hopes of his first top ten of the current campaign.

Simon Khan  150/1 Each Way- Betfred- Open a new Betfred account by clicking this link and get a free £25 bet.

Simon has only competed in four events so far this season on the European Tour, he has made three cuts but his form has generally been very poor, hence the massive odds on the former Champion to win here again.  Khan absolutely loves this course and even though his game is not in the greatest of shapes at the moment, he will still feel he has a great opportunity to make the frame again here at Wentworth.  Simon won this fantastic event back in 2010 and was very unlucky to finish as a runner up here last year when losing out in a playoff to Matteo Manassero.  The Englishman is a very good iron player and even though his form has been poor this season he is still hitting over 75 % of GIR, the putter just is not working for Simon at the moment and this may let the former champ down.

Good luck all.

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Andy Clark

Andy Clark

Founder and Editor at Thatsbettingtips.com
Thatsbettingtips.com editor and founder of Thatsagoal Media Limited. The home of free football betting tips.
Andy Clark

Andy Clark

Thatsbettingtips.com editor and founder of Thatsagoal Media Limited. The home of free football betting tips.