Aaron Cockerill lesson learned,T7 BMW PGA Championship >>>>Live scoreboard

 DP World Tour : BMW PGA Championship Leaderboard

On Thursday Canada's Aaron Cockerill came to the par5 253yd 18th at Wentworth GC at -4 looking to make birdie or even eagle at the famous closing hole.

Aaron hit his drive 310 yards past the 2 big bunkers on the left and had 217 left into the pin and decided to go for it. However he pulled the first one into the water, now playing 4, did the same again and finished with a double bogey 7.

This is how champion caddie Billy Foster says to play it:

"The 18th is the opposite to the 17th as you’ve got to hit a big cut off the tee or a big bomb right over the big trees on the right-hand side of the fairway. If it’s firm it can run out to 325 yards and there’s a ditch that runs right across the fairway so some guys will hit 3-wood off the tee. There’s a couple of big bunkers up the left-hand side and if you hit a straight tee shot it will run out to them which leaves a wedge over the creek and a wedge for your third shot. If you can get your tee shot away you can give yourself a great chance of birdie and outside chance of eagle. The green is quite small which does run away from you and there’s more to short and to the left-hand side of the green so you’ll see a lot of players bailing out to the right-hand bunker. But if you do go over the back right you’ve left yourself a demanding chip shot as you’re chipping downhill towards water. It’s all about getting a nice yardage in your hand on this hole so you’re not stuck in between clubs."

Today with a clean card at -4, Aaron came to 18 and having learned his lesson, played a 3 wood short of the bunkers 266yds, leaving 258 to the pin. He laid up with his second leaving 82 yards, hit his wedge to 26 feet and made the putt for birdie 4, a round of 67 T6 at -7.

With the round winding down it looks like Matthew Baldwin who has been lights out for two days 65 66 -13 will have the lead, by how much depends on these late guys, right now he leads by 3. 

Weather : There is rain in the forecast for Sunday 

Follow all the live scoring by clicking Leaderboard 

Bryan Angus

 

Round two resumes after weather delay.. Baldwin clubhouse leader -13.... live scoreboard.

 DP World Tour : BMW PGA Championship ..Leaderboard

After a little over an hours delay over the lunch hour play has resumed in round 2 of this version of the BMW PGA Championship.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

 Englishman Matthew Baldwin has had what must be one of the best 36 holes of his professional life with 14 birdies just one bogey and all the rest pars for -13 (65 66) and the clubhouse lead on a day of low scoring at Wentworth. 

Call it a purple patch or in the zone or playing unconscious its all going his way right now. Joining him at -10 69 65, is France's Antoine Rozner.

Looking down the list, there is a lot of red numbers with the late wave including Rory etal setting out, and I just had a peek at the weather and there is a lot of rain forecast for Sunday.

The projected cut currently sits at -1.

Aaron Cockerill is through 14 holes as I post with a clean card including 2 birdies, -4 total. 

Keep track of the live scoring by clicking on my leaderboard link above. 

Bryan Angus 

How to play the back nine at Wentworth with Billy Foster... live scoreboard

DP World Tour : BMW PGA Championship Leaderboard

Yesterday I posted how to play the front nine at Wentworth GC the historic course at the DP World HQ in leafy Surrey, England. With round two currently suspended on Friday morning due to lightning, here is how veteran caddy Billy Foster guides his player European Ryder Cup star and US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick around the back nine.

Hole 10

Par 3 | 184 Yards | 168 Metres

The tenth hole is normally a 6 or 7-iron off the tee. The green sort of runs front left diagonally to the back right so you’re hitting it across the green a little bit which makes it an extra 15-16 yards to carry to the right half of the green. Quite often you’ll see the guys in the bank coming up short right to some of the pins. If you miss the green left, it’s not an easy shot as you’re chipping over a bank and the green runs away from you from the left. You’re looking to get the ball left half of the green and the middle of the green is always a good play.

Hole 11

Par 4 | 408 Yards | 373 Metres

On the 11th you’ve got a couple of bunkers on the left that you can’t carry and a couple of bunkers on the right that you can’t get past so you’re forced to hit a good drive. If you tug it a little bit there’s heather and ferns up the left so you can get some really bad lies. It’s a demanding tee shot but if you hit the fairway it’s a birdie chance as you’re only hitting a pitching wedge to an elevated green. It’s a two-tier elevated green which normally spins quite a bit, it’s quite severe back to front.

Hole 12

Par 5 | 520 Yards | 475 Metres

You’d be disappointed not to make a birdie here because you basically just need a driver and a long iron. The green has quite a steep false front so if the ball is five yards onto the green, it will back off. The green does slope from front to back so you’re looking to land it on the front and the ball will feed back from there to some of the pins. It’s a smallish green with two big bunkers on the right which gobble up a lot of second shots, but you’d be disappointed not to pick up a birdie here.

Hole 13

Par 4 | 470 Yards | 430 Metres

There’s a bunker at the left at 310 yards and a big bunker down the right at 270 carry, but in the modern game most of the guys will be flying over that nine times out of ten. Fairway is a bit of a dog-leg right to left with the blind second shot playing six or seven yards uphill – you’d probably want to be playing a 7-iron. The green tends to bounce either way from right or left – you’d be disappointed to miss it with a 7-iron. Just get yourself in the middle of the green and you’ll never have that long a birdie putt.

Hole 14

Par 3 | 174 Yards | 159 Metres

The 14th can be a tricky par-3 up the hill. Players are probably going to opt for a 7-iron, maybe a 6-iron sometimes. It plays 10-11 yards uphill with another massive false front with the slope starting at five yards onto the green so anything a few yards onto the green, you’re going to land 30 yards short. It’s a two-tier green with a plateau back left and back right. Try and fly it in the middle of the green and you’ll give yourself a decent birdie chance but it’s all about distance control and controlling your ball flight because it plays severely uphill and the wind can be swirling a lot down there.

Hole 15

Par 4 | 491 Yards | 449 Metres

The 15th hole is usually quite a demanding tee shot that is usually a driver. If it’s downwind you can possibly hit a 3-wood depending on how firm it’s playing. There’s a ditch that runs tight to the right edge of the fairway and across the fairway at 340 yards. You normally try and hit a driver down the left half of the fairway to obviously take that ditch out of play. The second shot is around a 6-iron to a green that plays three of four yards downhill. The green runs away from you front to back and slopes right to left, so you try and land it middle-right half of the green to let the ball feed into right to left to the flags. It’s one of the toughest finishing holes so you take your four and get out of there.

Hole 16

Par 4 | 383 Yards | 350 Metres

You’ve got two traps up the right that are in-play between 240 and 270 yards, so it’s a 7-wood every day off the tee, leaving a 9-iron second shot. The green is narrow and slightly elevated so you have to be very precise with your second shot as there’s also big bunkers short right and short left. Get the ball in the middle of the green and give yourself half a chance of making a birdie.

Hole 17

Par 5 | 610 Yards | 558 Metres

The 17th requires quite a demanding tee shot which plays about 15 yards downhill with a fairway that slopes severely left to right. You want to hit it right to left to hold the fairway and get it around the corner. If you hug it too much on the left side there’s big trees which you can hit and the out of bounds is very close to there so it’s a difficult tee shot – you’ll see a lot of guys bail out towards the right-hand trees. If you can keep it on the edge of the fairway, right half of the fairway, then you can get home in two but it’s still a long second shot. It will be a wood for most guys which is blind over the top of the hill. You want to land it 20 or so yards short of the green and hopefully it will run down there. It’s a very narrow entrance to the green with a big run-off to the right-hand side. It’s a good shot to hit the green in two but it’s a hole you’re really looking to make birdie on.

Hole 18

Par 5 | 523 Yards | 478 Metres

The 18th is the opposite to the 17th as you’ve got to hit a big cut off the tee or a big bomb right over the big trees on the right-hand side of the fairway. If it’s firm it can run out to 325 yards and there’s a ditch that runs right across the fairway so some guys will hit 3-wood off the tee. There’s a couple of big bunkers up the left-hand side and if you hit a straight tee shot it will run out to them which leaves a wedge over the creek and a wedge for your third shot. If you can get your tee shot away you can give yourself a great chance of birdie and outside chance of eagle. The green is quite small which does run away from you and there’s more to short and to the left-hand side of the green so you’ll see a lot of players bailing out to the right-hand bunker. But if you do go over the back right you’ve left yourself a demanding chip shot as you’re chipping downhill towards water. It’s all about getting a nice yardage in your hand on this hole so you’re not stuck in between clubs.

edit **** Canada's Aaron Cockerill was sailing along at -4, after a fine 310 yard drive hit 2 long approach shots into the water, resulting in double bogey 7, when he was looking at birdie or even that eagle, reminding us of the risk and reward of this classic finishing hole.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

England's Matt Baldwin leads after 18 BMW PGA Championship... Cockerill T37...results..

DP World Tour : BMW PGA Championship ' Leaderboard

Friday

AM clouds, breezy and warm with a slight chance for an isolated shower or thunderstorm 11 AM - 2 PM.

23°C11°C

Wind Direction NE to ENE

Wind Speed 10 - 20mph

Saturday

23°C14°C

Wind Direction E

Wind Speed 12 - 18mph

Matthew Baldwin produced a flawless performance to leave the big names in his wake and lead by one shot at the BMW PGA Championship.

The Englishman may have started the day under the radar at Wentworth Club, but his rivals and fans will know his name now after climbing to the summit at -7 65

He was one of only two players to keep a clean card on the first day of the flagship event on the DP World Tour schedule - the other was Frenchman Jeong weon Ko - and Baldwin held his nerve to roll in his seventh birdie at the last to take the outright lead.

It is his first round lead since the 2018 Soudal Open as he sits one clear of Denmark's Niklas Nørgaard 66 and Belgian Thomas Detry 66

"It was lovely. I feel like my game has been pretty strong for a while and to actually put it into a performance is nice, a nice positive," Baldwin said.

"I stayed patient. I got off to a good start which obviously then you gain momentum. I holed a few nice putts and I hit it close when I needed to.

"It's definitely been coming. My game's been strong for a while, results haven't always shown that and I'm quite good at getting in the way of myself. I think today I've tried to be as calm and positive as I could.

"It's great, this is the tournament as players we all look forward to. It's a great week on and off the golf course. It's a pleasure to be here.

"I've proved I can shoot a good number and hopefully let's do it again."

Nørgaard had set the daunting clubhouse target of -6 after mixing seven gains and one dropped shot as he continued his love affair with English golf courses.

The 32-year-old claimed his maiden DP World Tour title at the Betfred British Masters earlier this month and maintained his recent fine form in Surrey.

Eleven players were at -5 67 with McIlroy and Perez sitting alongside French pair Ko and Ugo Coussaud, Ryder Cup stars Robert MacIntyre and Shane Lowry, English trio Marcus Armitage, Dan Bradbury and Andy Sullivan and former winners Billy Horschel and Matteo Manassero.

Hurly Long recorded the 26th hole-in-one of the DP World Tour campaign at the fifth hole. Long hit an inch-perfect shot, using a seven iron for the 198-yard hole to continue his roller coaster first round. The 29-year-old, who opened with a double bogey, birdied the third and fourth before adding an eagle one at the fifth. He finished his front nine with a bogey before picking up a shot at the 12th. Long bogeyed the 13th and 16th to return to level par, only to eagle the par-five last for a 70

Defending champion Ryan Fox battled to -1 71 while Germany's Hurly Long recorded the 26th hole-in-one of the season when he aced the 197-yard fifth hole with a seven iron.

edit *** Canada's Aaron Cockerill is T37 after -2 70. He was at -4 standing on the par 518th tee, but after a splendid drive he proceeded to put 2 approach shots into the water ending up with a double bogey 7. He has an early tee time on Friday.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

This is how to play front 9 at Wentworth by champion caddie Billy Foster..live scoreboard

DP World Tour; BMW PGA Championship : Leaderboard

Weather : Sunny,  windy ENE 15-255 mph, warm 23*c

edit **** I have posted the front nine and will post the back nine tomorrow...

The 2024 BMW PGA Championship is the 40th consecutive edition of this event to be held at the prestigious Wentworth Club. Here’s the take of Billy Foster, caddie to Major Champion Matt Fitzpatrick, on how players may look to tackle the West Course this year.

Hole One:

Par 4 | 473 Yards | 433 Metres

There’s two ways of playing the first hole and it depends on the wind conditions. You can hit a 3-wood to the top of the hill between 280-290 yards which will leave an elevated second shot down to the green with a 5-iron. The second option is to be a bit more aggressive and hit driver over the top, but the fairway slopes dramatically left to right and the ball normally ends up in the right-hand rough. Getting onto the green with that second shot from the rough isn’t as easy as you think, so the sensible play is to hit the 3-wood off the tee and leave yourself a 5-iron into the middle of the green. It’s a challenging hole so take your four and move on to the second.

Hole Two

Par 3 | 154 Yards | 141 Metres

Usually playing around 155 yards so a 9-iron is typically the club of choice. The wind can be tricky here and normally plays from the left quite a bit. There’s a massive false front so if you’re landing it front-edge of the green it’s going to spin off 20-25 yards short which leaves a blind uphill chip shot. There is a big bunker short right which gobbles up a lot of tee shots and a big tree there as well. You want to be in the middle of the green which will always leave you a birdie putt. It’s a tricky little hole.

Hole Two

Par 3 | 154 Yards | 141 Metres

Usually playing around 155 yards so a 9-iron is typically the club of choice. The wind can be tricky here and normally plays from the left quite a bit. There’s a massive false front so if you’re landing it front-edge of the green it’s going to spin off 20-25 yards short which leaves a blind uphill chip shot. There is a big bunker short right which gobbles up a lot of tee shots and a big tree there as well. You want to be in the middle of the green which will always leave you a birdie putt. It’s a tricky little hole.

Hole Three

Par 4 | 459 Yards | 420 Metres

This one is up there with one of the toughest holes on the golf course. It’s an uphill tee shot with traps up the right which you can’t really carry. Basically, you try and hit a driver at the right edge of the left-hand bunker off the tee which leaves you in the region of a 5-6 iron for the second shot uphill. The green has a false front so if you’re short it will roll off the front, you’ve also got deep bunkers left and right as well as plateau at the right-hand side, the front and another one middle-left at the back. It has three different levels so it’s a tricky green but a lot easier if you get it on the right level. If you don’t, you’re facing a very tricky two-putt and if you miss the green you’ve got those deep bunkers so it’s quite difficult to get your chip close to the pin because of the three different levels. It’s one of the most challenging holes on the golf course.

Hole Four

Par 5 | 552 Yards | 505 Metres

The fourth hole is a blind tee shot par five – if you get your drive away it should be a great birdie chance, possibly eagle chance. It’s all about the tee shot, you have to draw the tee shot and probably move the ball in the air around 10 yards to hold the fairway because it slopes left to right. There’s a ditch around the 380-yard mark, which sounds a lot, but if it’s firm and severely downhill, the ball can run towards that ditch so some days you may have to hit a 3-wood, especially off the front tee. The second shot is about 10 yards downhill so you want to be hitting a 4, 5 or 6-iron to the green. You’d be disappointed if you didn’t make birdie here.

Hole Five

Par 3 | 203 yards | 186 Metres

A par-three that has two or three different levels on the green and a downslope on the middle of the green which feeds the ball to the back-right. It’s a mid-iron, 5-iron sort of shot from the tee – depending on the wind it can be tricky getting the right club in your hand. You’re looking to pitch it front half of the green or middle of the green at the most if the pin is at the back because it will feed down to that back-right pin. If you land it too far it’s going over the back of the green and if you miss the green it’s a tricky up-and-down.

Hole Six

Par 4 | 418 Yards | 382 Metres

The sixth hole has been extended a lot over the years. They took the tee back about 60 yards 10 years ago so now you’ve got a bunker on the left which is 265 to carry and a big bunker on the right which is 285 to reach. A lot of guys will probably hit a 3-wood off the tee and try and leave it short of the right-hand bunker. Fitz being Fitz will be more than happy to hit driver past all the trouble, even if it finishes in the left-hand rough it’s only going to be a sand wedge or gap wedge to a fairly flattish green. Again, if you get your tee shot away it’s a birdie chance.

Hole Seven

Par 4 | 396 Yards | 362 Metres

The seventh hole all depends on the firmness of the fairway. You’ve got the top of the hill at 220 yards and there’s a ditch that runs across the middle of the fairway at 290 so you’re not looking to pitch it more than 230-240 off the tee at the most. A lot of guys will hit a 5 or 7-wood off the tee and leave it down at the bottom, which will leave a 9-iron to an elevated green. It’s a difficult green to get it close because there’s a very severe slope in the middle which is an extra 15 yards carry on the right and 22 yards carry in the middle to a fairly shallow back shelf. So, you’re probably hitting a 9-iron which plays around five yards uphill against tricky winds – it’s hard to get it on that back plateau. It’s easier to one bounce it or you can leave yourself a tricky chip. If you land it in the middle of the green it spins back down to the front.

Hole Eight

Par 4 | 400 Yards | 366 Metres

The guys will probably hit a 4-iron off the tee to around 240-250 yards because there’s a bank that runs across the fairway at 260. You can fly it over the bank with a 280-yard carry but then you have water at 310 so if it’s playing firm it can bounce along into there. The best way to play the hole is a 4-iron off the tee, leaving you 7 or 8-iron into a narrow green, which is probably only 15-18 yards wide, with water on the left and a fairly steep slope to the right. You’re always happy to make par here and move on to the next.

Hole Nine

Par 4 | 449 Yards | 411 Metres

Ninth hole is usually a driver or 3-wood off the tee downwind with bunkers out wide left and right. The left one is more in-play than the right as you can fly it past that one. You’re better off being a bit more aggressive off this tee and getting it out there 300 yards or so, leaving yourself an 8-iron to the green. It’s sort of a semi-blind shot to the green with a big bunker short left, run off to the right and run off back left so you want to get it in the middle of the green. If you aim for the middle, you’re never going to leave yourself that long of a birdie putt.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

Rosey couldn't make a cut in 1999... Now an MBE for one of the games most respected..

 Justin Rose named the BMW PGA Championship as the tournament he would most like to win outside the Majors as the home favourite arrived at Wentworth Club for the 2024 edition.

Englishman Rose has recorded five top-tens in 18 previous appearances at this event, including runners-up finishes in 2007 and 2012.

The 44-year-old, who won the last of his 11 DP World Tour crowns in 2018, is targeting a return to the winner's circle and the local lad feels Virginia Water would be the perfect place to do it, as a star-studded field assembles in Surrey for the return of the Rolex Series.

He said: "Obviously it would be lovely to turn a winless year into a non-winless year. 

"It would be great to hoist something before the end of the year. That would be my primary objective.

"If I was given a choice, obviously there's the DP World Tour Championship, great tournament, but this one is a little closer to home and means a lot.

"I've seen my caddie Fooch (Mark Fulcher) win it when it was Billy Horschel, so it would be nice to win it with him as well, 100 per cent. 

"It's definitely one of my Majors, and then pretty much outside of the Majors, I couldn't really think of an event I'd love to win more than this one.

"It's a huge event on the DP World Tour, and bucket list event for me from a personal point of view, with memories of watching all the greats come through here as a kid.

"And yeah, it's special to be a part of it and to see my name on the occasional poster and things like that. It's definitely always a slightly surreal tournament for me from that point of view.

EDIT>> Justin burst into the bright lights at the 1998 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale when he placed T4th as an amateur after holing out a wedge from the deep rough for a birdie.

He turned pro the next day and couldn't make a cut in his first 21 events.

I found his number and called it long distance from Toronto to his home in Hook that morning and his father Ken answered and after some fatherly questioning let his tall 17 year old son do an interview with me. Sadly Ken passed away 5 years later from cancer.

Look at where Rosie is today, one of the games most respected players, still married to teenage sweetheart Kate, homes in the Bahamas and London, awarded MBE, 25 wins around the world including 2013 US Open, 2016 Olympic Gold Medal, numerous runner up placings at the Masters and Open Championship all on his glittering resume.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit) 

Tee Times BMW PGA Championship including Aaron Cockerill

DP World Tour : BMW PGA Championship Tee Times

This week at the HQ of the DP World Tour at Virginia Water in Surrey, England, its the flagship event BMW PGA Championship, played on the world famous Wentworth Club.

Rory McIlroy is the top ranked player, paired with Justin Rose and defending champion Kiwi Ryan Fox at 845 hours GMT. 

Shane Lowry is right behind him with Scotland's Bob MacIntyre and the Swede Jesper Svensson. at 855.

The Field

In all there are 42 pairings, 126 players, the best of this tour as it heads to its conclusion of the Race to Dubai in November.

Some of the in form players besides Rory are, Rasmus Hojgaard who beat him by a shot in Ireland, his twin brother Nicolai, Adam Scott who has made the Presidents Cup team, Matt Wallace who won in Switzerland a fortnight ago, Tommy Fleetwood the Olympic silver medalist, Niklas Norgaard who won the British Masters three weeks ago, to mention a few.

I'll be keeping a close eye on Canada's Aaron Cockerill who showed a nice return to form with a T7 last week on the very tough Royal County Down links, after missing  his 4 previous cuts.

Race to Dubai qualifying.

Aaron is well placed at #39 in the Race to Dubai standings and he will want to qualify for the playoffs where the top 70 play on November 7 in Abu Dhabi with the top 50 going to the Tour Championship the following week on the Earth Course, both are in Dubai which is the other HQ of the DP World Tour. Rory has won it 5 times.

Aaron and his family now have a home in Dubai, as do quite a few European players.

Before they get to Dubai, there are stops in Spain (2), Scotland, France and Korea, so lots of golf sort out who makes the finals.

Bryan Angus