BMW PGA Championship 2021 R1 – Tie for lead – Golf Today

BMW PGA Championship 2021 R1
September 09-12
Wentworth Golf Club, Virginia Water, Surrey, England
$8,000,000

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Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat and South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout took the opening lead at the BMW PGA Championship, the third Rolex Series event of the 2021 Race to Dubai.

BMW PGA Championship 2021 R1

Aphibarnrat started slowly with a single birdie on the front nine, but produced seven more on the back nine for a bogey-free 64 to take the clubhouse lead.

He endured a knee injury in 2019 as well as a 24 week break from competition in 2020 due to the pandemic and has so far missed eleven cuts in fifteen events this year. His 64 was his lowest European Tour round since the 2017 Italian Open.

Kiradech had the short game working today 👏#BMWPGA | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/a0LQwO7YED

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 9, 2021

BMW PGA Championship 2021 R1

“I’ve had a really hard time the last two years. Playing with the injury, hurting my right knee after The Masters and then when Covid hit I had to go back to my country and was stuck in the country for eight months – I couldn’t play much golf.

“I just want to come up here and enjoy every single minute that I spend on the European Tour, every time I come back it just feels like home. I feel comfortable over here – I see some friends, see my coaches. It’s a lovely golf course. I enjoy it every time I come back to Wentworth.”

PGA Championship 2021 R1

He was later joined at the top of the leaderboard by Bezuidenhout whose seven birdies were accompanied by an eagle at the par-5 4th and a bogey at the par-4 15th.

Bezuidenhout scored two consecutive wins at home in 2020 and finished seventh on the 2020 Race to Dubai but hasn’t yet made it into the top 10 at any competition this year.

“Everything with my game feels better than a year ago,” he said. “But I’m not getting the scores or the results and stuff. I just keep on doing the right things, keep on doing the same things that have obviously been working over the last year.

“I drove the ball lovely today, so I just kept it in play. Gave myself a chance, and the putter was good.”

@CbezGolf’s best finish at a Rolex Series event was here in 2019. (3rd)#BMWPGA | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/rjuhIdQyr9

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 9, 2021

BMW PGA Championship 2021 R1

Adam Scott of Australia lies one shot behind followed two further behind by England’s Justin Rose and Laurie Canter as well as Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura in fourth place.

Spain’s Miguel Ángel Jiménez, making his 30th appearance in the event at 57, is tied in seventh place at 4-under alongside compatriot Pablo Larrazábal, Joost Luiten of the Netherlands and Italy’s Francesco Laporta.

Miguel. The gift that keeps on giving ✍️#BMWPGA | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/sjeUT56Nm9

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 9, 2021

BMW PGA Championship 2021 R1

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