Rory McIlroy returns to Wentworth Club with a spring in his step ahead of this week’s BMW PGA Championship, just a few days removed from his 20th DP World Tour victory at the Amgen Irish Open.
The Northern Irishman produced a grandstand finish as he eagled the last to force a play-off with Joakim Lagergren, which he won on the third extra hole, securing his fourth worldwide win of the season.
In a year in which he has won both his second PLAYERS Championship and second Irish Open title, the 36-year-old remains optimistic that he could also add a second BMW PGA Championship crown to his mantlepiece, following on from his victory in 2014.
He will tee it up in the first two rounds in the company of Ryder Cup teammates and fellow Major winners Shane Lowry and Jon Rahm. Lowry is also aiming for a second victory at Wentworth Club, three years on from finishing one stroke clear of the pair in 2022.
Rahm is making his fifth appearance at Wentworth this week and he has finished no lower than fourth in those four outings, with two runner-up results thus far.
Major Champion and former World Number One Justin Rose is making his 20th appearance in the BMW PGA Championship, almost a month to the day after his 12th victory on the PGA TOUR at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Rose is playing alongside a fellow FedExCup Champion in Tommy Fleetwood, who won the TOUR Championship at East Lake three weeks ago, and defending champion Billy Horschel, who is making his first competitive start since April after recovering from hip surgery.
Player Quotes
Rory McIlroy: “I feel like I’m playing two home events in a row, and being as a resident here now, as well. Yeah, it’s good to come back, even since the win here in 2014, I’ve had a lot of close calls to get my name on the trophy again. 2018 was second to Francesco. 2022, I think, second to Shane. But I think if it was four rounds I would have got him. And obviously last year, getting beaten by Billy in the play-off. But I’ve had a good run here at Wentworth.
“Last week was great and I won, but it doesn’t change anything. I’m using this time to prepare for what’s coming in a couple weeks’ time. Yeah, I wanted to get out (on the range). I wanted to get on the golf course and familiarise myself with the place.”
Jon Rahm: “I feel comfortable every time I play this course. I don’t know exactly what it is but it’s a golf course I enjoy. It’s a week I enjoy a lot. It’s a fun city to come to. It’s a fun golf course to play. I think all that plays a part. It’s always the end of the year, after playing all the majors and all the tours, coming to a unique week like this one, a unique golf course like this one is always a treat. I look forward to it and when I can come, it’s a fun experience and I hope I can keep the streak alive.”
Justin Rose: “It’s nice when you lose count. Obviously 20 is a decent number. I think of guys’ careers, and to sort of stay able, fit, willing and able for that long is sometimes impressive. Yeah, time flies. I guess time flies when you’re having fun. That’s probably the most important thing is I’m still very much enjoying my game, my golf and the opportunity to keep getting better and pushing to get better. I think I’m still playing not just to rack up numbers and rack up sticking around for as long as I can, and but be competitive and challenge, I’m enjoying that right now.”
Tommy Fleetwood: “It’s good to be back. Had a nice last couple of weeks in the UK and it’s always, I think the way that the sort of global schedule works now, I always enjoy coming back to this tournament and seeing faces that I don’t see every week, anyway. It’s kind of extra nice when you’ve got so many people saying “Well done” that you haven’t seen. So that’s really lovely.
“It’s nice being back at work. I think this is our flagship event. I always think it’s such a great event and quite a beautiful part of the world. Yeah, it feels nice to be somewhere familiar but also excited to get back to work.”
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.
