DEFENDING CHAMPION: Englishman Danny Willett defeated Spaniard Jon Rahm by three shots here last year. The former Masters champion shot 20-under-par 268 to capture his seventh European Tour title.

COURSE: Wentworth Club was founded in 1922 and features three 18-hole layouts – the West Course, the East Course and the Edinburgh Course – plus a nine-hole course. The BMW PGA Championship has been played on the Harry Colt-designed West Course every year since 1984. The 6,646-metre par-72 was renovated by Ernie Els between 2005 and 2017. Twenty-nine bunkers were completely removed and all of the remaining bunkers were redesigned, so, too, were each of the greens.

PRIZEMONEY: US$7,000,000.

PLAYERS TO WATCH …

Englishman Tommy Fleetwood came painfully close to winning the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club last week, going down in extra holes to his compatriot Aaron Rai.

Fleetwood, who last won on the European Tour in 2019 at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, will be hoping to take some of last week’s form with him to the BMW PGA, where he owns just one top-10 result (T6 in 2015) from eight career starts.

The World No.14 is, of course, one of the best ball strikers in the world. If he can get hot with the putter, expect to see him challenge for his sixth European Tour title.

RIGHT: Willett won his seventh European Tour title here last year. PHOTO: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.

Danny Willett returns to defend his title off the back of five consecutive missed cuts and is therefore quite difficult to recommend for anyone who enjoys tipping.

The 33-year-old does, however, possess quite a decent record at Wentworth outside of his victory, recording two additional top-5s from 10 appearances. He has only ever missed two cuts here, too.

The Yorkshire player also has a history of playing well when defending titles, save for his Masters defence in 2017. He was fifth at the DP World Tour Championship last year and T12 at the European Masters in 2016.

72-HOLE RECORD: Englishman Brian Bamford’s 266 shots in 1961 at Royal Mid-Surrey and Richmond Golf Clubs is the best tournament aggregate score. South Korean Ben An, meanwhile, set the mark in relation to par when he won at Wentworth in 2015 (21 under).

PAST AUSSIE WINNERS: Mike Harwood (1990) and Rodger Davis (1986).

AUSTRALIANS IN THE FIELD: Scott Hend, Lucas Herbert, Min Woo Lee, Wade Ormsby and Jason Scrivener.

TV TIMES*
Round 1: Thursday (Fox Sports 503 LIVE 9:30pm – 3:30am)
Round 2: Friday (Fox Sports 503 LIVE 9:30pm – 3:30am)
Round 3: Saturday (Fox Sports 503 LIVE 9pm – 2:30am)
Round 4: Sunday (Fox Sports 503 LIVE 10:30pm – 2:30am)
*AEDT, check local guides