After an indifferent four days competing at last week’s Amgen Irish Open and Rory McIlroy has hopefully signalled his intentions of a vast improvement teeing-up in this week’s flagship BMW PGA Championship at Tour HQ in Wentworth.
Rors went out the pro-am posting a score of ‘new’ (see below) West Course record of a 12-under 60 and a wonderful sign of hopeful good tidings competing in this week in an event he captured way back in 2014 and as a then sixth victory of currently 30 DP World Tour wins.
RORS ROARING AHEAD @BMWPGA ..
As @McIlroyRory posts Wentworth West ⛳️ record 6️⃣0️⃣ in @BMWchamps pro-am
Former Tour HQ champ Rors teams with England cricket great Stuart Broad, Olympic 2026 hockey gold medallist Samantha Quek & former F1 technician Calum Nicholas
— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) September 16, 2026
The double Masters winning hero posted a bogey-free scorecard that featured an eagle and ten birdies.
After following up a birdie at the third with an eagle on the par-five fourth, Rors then posted eight birdies in succession before closing out the day with five pars and an 18th hole birdie.
McIlroy’s impressive effort technically should have been an official new Wentworth course record however the golfing powers to be say that given his score was posted in a less stringent non-tournament format, McIlroy’s 60 score officially will not count.
Though McIlroy does have the personal luxury of the effort being a new career low round.
As it stands, the official West Course record of a 10-under 62 is held by three players – with Sweden’s Robert Karlsson (2010), Thomas Bjorn in 2014 and then Alex Noren in 2017.
BMW PGA Pre-Tournament Notes
Tournament ……
- This year is the 72nd edition of the BMW PGA Championship, an event with a history that spans back to 1955
- The is also the 42nd consecutive hosting of the tournament at the prestigious Wentworth Club, and 46th edition hosted by the club overall in leafy Surrey.
- This event marks BMW’s 22nd edition as title sponsor
- The BMW PGA Championship has been part of the Rolex Series since its inception in 2017, and is the third Rolex Series event on the 2026 Race to Dubai
- The BMW PGA Championship is the fourth of nine tournaments on the Back 9 phase of the 2026 Race to Dubai, as the end of the season comes into focus and it’s All to Play For. The ultimate prize is to top the Race to Dubai Rankings and take the European Number One crown. But every event counts, as players at different points in the Rankings vie to secure their cards for 2027, to qualify for the season-ending DP World Tour Play-Offs, and to earn one of ten dual memberships on the PGA Tour.
BMW PGA Championship Players …..
- Defending champion Alex Noren became a two-time BMW PGA Championship winner last season after making a birdie at the first play-off hole to defeat Adrien Saddier following an enthralling final round
- Swede Noren was the first ever Rolex Series winner after he claimed the title at Wentworth in 2017
- A stellar list of former winners including Career Grand Slam winner Rory McIlroy, 2023 winner and current Champion Golfer of the Year Ryan Fox, fellow Major champion and 2022 winner Shane Lowry, who claimed his seventh DP World Tour title in Ireland last week, five-time Rolex Series winner Tyrrell Hatton, who triumphed in 2020, and European Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald, a winner at Wentworth in 2011 and 2012.
- The field also includes most recent English Major champion Aaron Rai, fellow Major winners Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose, Jon Rahm, Francesco Molinari, Adam Scott, Brooks Koepka, JJ Spaun, European Ryder Cup stars Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland, Nicolai Højgaard, Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka and Robert MacIntyre
