LAST UPDATE | 14 Sep 2023
DEFENDING CHAMPION SHANE Lowry is three-under after his opening round at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
The Offaly native is defending the title he won last September and is currently five shots off the lead held by Danish golfer Marcus Helligkilde on eight-under.
“I got off to a great start, three under through seven, and a couple of bogeys around the turn wasn’t great, but I think the course is playing a little bit more difficult this year,” Lowry said.
“There’s a lot more rough and it’s a little bit firmer so three under is not a bad score.”
Lowry’s bright start saw him pick up shots at the par-three 2nd, the par-three 5th and the par-four 7th. Then came successive bogeys on nine and ten but he bounced back with birdies on the 12th and 14th to remain in the hunt.
Rory McIlroy struggled to a level-par 72, thanks to a birdie on the last. He birdied the 7th and 13th, but bogeys arrived on the 1st, 14th and 15th in his opening round. Padraig Harrington finished six-over and Tom McKibbin is two-over.
2022 US Open champions Matt Fitzpatrick made a storming start and was five-under after 11 holes. He now sits six-under. Having been six-under after 12, Danny Willett has fallen to now one-under while Adrian Meronk is five-under.
Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg overcame his nerves and a “stupid” double bogey to make an impressive start. Playing alongside Ryder Cup team-mates McIlroy and Viktor Hovland, Aberg carded five birdies in a row on the back nine before hitting his tee shot out of bounds on the par-five 17th.
However, the 23-year-old responded with a birdie on the last to card an opening four-under-par 68, with Hovland returning a 69.
Aberg only turned professional in June after a stellar amateur career, but won the final Ryder Cup qualifying event in Switzerland and was given a wild card by Europe captain Luke Donald the following day.
McIlroy declared on Wednesday that he was now at the front of the Aberg “bandwagon” after partnering him in a practice round in Rome two days earlier, while Hovland joined Justin Rose in labelling him a “stud”.
“The 17th was a little bit stupid but other than that I felt like I hit the ball great and gave myself a few chances, especially on the back nine where it’s a little bit more scoreable,” Aberg said.
“Overall, I’m really happy with the way I played. I was very nervous this morning, it would have been weird if I wasn’t, but playing with Rory and Viktor was a lot of fun.”
-Additional reporting by PA
