Ludvig Åberg and Tom Vaillant share the lead at the BMW PGA Championship on eight under par after the first round at Wentworth Club was suspended due to darkness.
Frenchman Vaillant, who hit the opening tee shot in the first group on the West Course this morning, set the clubhouse target at eight under after firing ten birdies in his round of 64. He made the turn two under and then carded six birdies on his final seven holes.
Heading into the third Rolex Series event of the season 124th on the Race to Dubai Rankings, Vaillant is finding form at the right time. His best result of the season so far came two weeks ago in Switzerland where he finished in a tie for 17th courtesy of scores of 64 and 66 in the third and fourth rounds respectively.
Åberg, who will make his second Ryder Cup appearance for Team Europe in a fortnight’s time, opened his round with a bogey, but recovered with nine birdies as he joined Vaillant at the top of the leaderboard. Play was suspended for more than an hour due to the threat of lightning as he was playing the 18th hole, but he returned to finish with a birdie – his third in a row to close out his round.
Casey Jarvis was the co-leaders’ nearest challenger on seven under after the South African closed his round with five straight birdies.
Home favorite Matt Fitzpatrick, Scotland’s Richie Ramsay, France’s Antoine Rozner and Swede Joakim Lagergren were another stroke further back.
Thursday’s later starters will return to the course to complete their first rounds on Friday morning at 07:45 local time after play was suspended due to darkness at 19.30. There is no change to round two tee times, with the first group teeing off at 06:40.
Player Quotes
Ludvig Åberg: It was very efficient. I felt like once I got on the greens, I was rolling the putter really nice and tried to be aggressive with the speed. Managed to make a lot of putts, which is nice.
Any time you shoot that kind of score, I think you need to be good on the greens, and that was what it was today.
It’s one of my favourite events of the year. I think I said that multiple times in the last couple days, and it’s really nice to be here. Obviously the golf course is in great shape and the crowds are always amazing. It’s a treat to play well here and it’s a treat to play well here, as well.
Matt (Fitzpatrick), we get along great. He’s a great guy. It’s very easy to be around him, and we can chat about all sorts of things that are not even golf related, so that’s always nice. Today was one of them days where we both played pretty well. Hopefully we can do that in New York in a couple weeks’ time, too.
Tom Vaillant: It was a nice round. It was a wake-up at 03.50, and then it was very nice. I played well.
I tried to stay patient and give myself opportunities because I know I’m playing well the last couple of weeks. So it showed that I can go low, so that’s nice.
Casey Jarvis: It was really solid. Been playing nicely lately. Just the results haven’t been showing how nicely I’ve been playing. So to post seven-under today my first time around Wentworth is very special.
I struggled a little bit off the tee early on but my putter kind of saved me a little. And yeah, I rolled in a few good putts towards the end. So very pleased with that.
Unreal to see all the fans. I mean, yeah, first time, it’s honestly special and just honestly looking forward to the next three days.
About the DP World Tour
The DP World Tour is the main men’s professional golf tour of the European Tour group.
As golf’s global tour, we showcase global talent in global destinations and use our platform to build, entertain and connect our global community.
GLOBAL TALENT: We provide pathways and a platform for the leading international talent, bringing together golfing icons, national heroes and emerging stars from around the world.
GLOBAL DESTINATIONS: We stage tournaments in iconic cities and locations around the world and each week we celebrate and showcase the rich diversity of the courses, cities and cultures we visit.
GLOBAL COMMUNITY: We build, entertain and connect communities through our commitment to innovation, creative content and having a positive social and environmental impact.
Our 2025 Global Schedule features 42 tournaments in 26 different countries and comprises three distinct phases: five ‘Global Swings’, the ‘Back 9’ and the ‘DP World Tour Play-Offs’. It features five Rolex Series events – the premium category of events on the DP World Tour – and four Major Championships, all of which count towards the Race to Dubai Rankings, the Tour’s season-long competition which concludes at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
DP World, the leading provider of global smart end-to-end supply chain and logistics solutions, has been the title partner of the DP World Tour since the start of the 2022 season, the Tour’s 50th season following its formation in 1972.
We also enjoy the support of many of the world’s leading business brands with DP World, Rolex, Aldar, BMW, Buffalo Trace Distillery, Emirates, Fortinet, Nexo and Vestas as Official Partners.
About the European Tour group
The European Tour group administers the DP World Tour, the HotelPlanner Tour, the Legends Tour and the G4D Tour and, as the Managing Partner of Ryder Cup Europe LLP, stages golf’s greatest team contest, the Ryder Cup, in partnership with the PGA of America.
The European Tour group has Strategic Partnerships with the PGA TOUR, the Sunshine Tour, the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, the China Golf Association (CGA), the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA), and the TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India. These partnerships provide global pathways for players from across the world to compete internationally on the DP World Tour, the main men’s professional golf Tour of the European Tour group which was established in 1972, as well as the HotelPlanner Tour.
About the Rolex Series
The Rolex Series is the premium category of events on the DP World Tour, comprising five tournaments in 2025, staged in a variety of world-class golfing locations around the globe, each with a minimum prize fund of US$9 million.
Showcasing innovation, enriched media, content and broadcast coverage, and a superior event experience for both fans and for the world’s top players, the list of Rolex Series Champions includes some of golf’s most distinguished names.
The Rolex Series was launched in 2017, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of Rolex’s enduring partnership with the European Tour group.
In 2025, the Rolex Series comprises; the Hero Dubai Desert Classic (January 16-19), the Genesis Scottish Open (July 10-13) the BMW PGA Championship (September 11-14), the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (November 6-9) and the DP World Tour Championship (November 13-16). The latter two events comprise the DP World Tour Play-Offs and feature the leading 70 and 50 players from the Race to Dubai respectively.
