BMW PGA Championship betting tips as Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, LIV Golf players make bid for glory at Wentworth
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Published 07/09/2022 at 08:58 GMT
The BMW PGA Championship has certainly attracted star names to its 2022 edition, among them arguably the biggest of European golf in Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irishman will have an army of supporters on the West Course at Wentworth, but he faces a top-class field which also includes former world No. 1 Jon Rahm, current US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and title-holder Billy Horschel.
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Flagship events demand star players, and the BMW PGA Championship can boast the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Matt Fitzpatrick in the field at Wentworth this week.
There are a host of other big names from the DP World Tour and PGA Tour; sprinkle in the spice of 17 players from LIV Golf and you have a top-class event on a storied course.
The kicker of an $8 million (£7 million) purse will also pique interest - arguably less so for those from LIV - and those who line the fairways in Virginia Water will not be disappointed.
Fairways have been baked through what has felt like a never-ending summer, but rain has arrived in the South-East and with more downpours forecast leading into the opening two days, Wentworth will resemble the parkland track it is.
A sub-air system means the greens can be kept at any level of speed, irrespective of weather, and players will take on a great test of their games.
Rory McIlroy dominates the market and it is easy to see why the bookies have him pegged as the 11/2 favourite, as he is arguably playing the best golf of anyone in the world at the moment.
A fortnight ago he became the first player to win the FedEx Cup for a third time, doing so while working in the background on a revamped PGA Tour offering to counter the threat of LIV Golf.
McIlroy is a champion golfer and his record at Wentworth - he won the event in 2014 - means he merits close attention.
But it is the end of a long and trying year, on and off the course, and we are happy to take a watching brief on this occasion.
Rahm is second-best in the betting at the 8/1 mark and the Spaniard is extremely tempting.
It has been a mixed season for Rahm, who has not hit the heights of 2020 and 2021 when he rose to world No. 1 and secured his maiden major.
He has largely been held back by a cold putter, but there have been positive signs in recent weeks that the flat stick is beginning to show signs of life.
As tempting as Rahm is, he is too short a price given the quality in the field.
Course form is one of the most compelling factors, and in Shane Lowry there is a player who loves it at Wentworth.
The Irishman has been in the top 20 in each of the past five years - along with a fourth in 2011 and runner-up in 2014 - and arrives refreshed and in decent form.
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He missed out on a place at the Tour Championship by one spot, but the three-week break will have handed him the chance to recharge the batteries and at 18/1 we’re happy to have Lowry on our side.
Tyrrell Hatton is another player who comes alive at the West Course, and he makes decent appeal at 28/1 to back up his victory in 2020.
Hatton has been competing on the PGA Tour this year, and that higher standard of opponent can only sharpen an already impressive game.
He had a near-miss earlier in the year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and has been contending most weeks. With only two missed cuts to his name, Hatton appeals as an excellent each-way option.
The final dart can only be described as a hunch, but one with a tiny bit of logic.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat gave one of the most moving interviews seen for some time when talking about how hard life is on tour for an overseas player in America.
The Thai said he came close to walking away as he struggled to establish himself, but he is now back in Europe and will have a couple of fellow countrymen in Thongchai Jaidee and Jazz Janewattananond to have dinner with and - a thing he said he missed the most - to talk to in his native language.
Aphibarnrat has no recent form to cling to, missing nine cuts last season, but he has a liking for Wentworth.
He finished in a tie for second last year, fifth in 2018 and 14th in 2017. He could blow out completely, but at 150/1 there is value in taking a chance.
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