Disappeared from radar for two years, the Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat returned a sublime card of 64 (-8) to Wentworth. He shares the lead of the BMW PGA Championship with South African Christian Bezuidenhout. Many French people, including Victor Perez, have suffered, but Raphael Jacquelin (-3) is in the right tempo.
The talisman tournament of the European circuit and the final qualifying stage for the Ryder Cup, the BMW PGA Championship brings together, as usual, a field of very tough players and presents high stakes on all levels. You had to be a visionary to find the name of the leader at the end of the first round: seven birdies in eight holes on the return gave the orders of the tournament to Kiradech Aphibarnrat, the famous overweight Thai.
Disappeared for two years from the leaderboards due to an injury and the pandemic which partially blocked him in his country, the Thai suffered in 2021, missing 11 cuts out of the 15 tournaments he played. But his return to the fairways of the old Continent makes him happy and efficient. Before shining at Wentworth, he also had time to regain his PGA Tour card via the Korn Ferry Tour.
Thai boss
“I had two such difficult seasons, with my knee injury, the Covid … I now want to enjoy every second that I spend on the European circuit“, Kiradech summed up after his Thai boss performance.
Kiradech had the short game working today ????#BMWPGA | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/a0LQwO7YED
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 9, 2021
Christian Bezuidenhout joined him at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the day. Ranked 44th in the world and 8th in the breed in Dubai, the Sud-Af is more expected. On the podium is also the former winner of the Masters, the Australian Adam Scott (-7).
Stainless Jimenez
Among the tenors, we note the good beginnings of Justin Rose (-5) and the feat of more than fifty years old Miguel Angel Jimenez (57 years) author of a remarkable 68!
Miguel. The gift that keeps on giving ✍️#BMWPGA | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/sjeUT56Nm9
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 9, 2021
As for those who hunt the last “spots” for the Ryder Cup, they have experienced various fates. It’s a bad start for Victor Perez who must finish in the top three. The Tarbais scored 76. It is in the 125th provisional place.
The beginnings were also complicated for the Scottish Robert McIntyre (+2). The Irishman Shane Lowry (-é) and the Austrian Bernd Wiesberger started better (-1), without appearing in the very first places.
Jacquelin as in the good old days
Like Victor Perez, the French generally suffered on the difficult course of Ernie Els, even if some were still on the course at the time of writing and could therefore improve their score. Returning to the clubhouse, Mike Lorenzo Vera (+7), Victor Dubuisson and Antoine Rozner (+5), Alexander Levy (+3) will have to pull out all the stops on Friday to cross the cut.
The one who is doing the best after 18 holes is the veteran Raphaël Jacquelin, 47 years old (69). The youngest and less experienced Robin Roussel (28) also negotiated well this initial round (70).
The leaderboard
