After a first round of the BMW PGA Championship stopped by the announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth, two Englishmen were at the head of the Wentwoth tournament located in London, accompanied by the Norwegian Viktor Hovland. Matthieu Pavon is in ambush alongside Rory McIlroy when Friday’s day has already been canceled…
This is a very dark first round of the BMW PGA Championship which took place in Wentworth, in the suburbs of London. The Queen of England Elizabeth II, 96, died at her Scottish residence in Balmoral amid particularly gray and rainy British skies. At half-mast !
The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.
The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/VfxpXro22W
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) September 8, 2022
The explosion of the announcement of the death of the one who reigns over the British people since 1952 had the immediate effect of putting an end to the first round of the tournament and postponing the rest of the games to Saturday… at the earliest. To restore a little balm to the heart of the British representatives, two Englishmen had risen to the top of the classification, alongside the Norwegian Viktor Hovland, with a score of -9 (64). It’s even the best card of the career of Tommy Fleetwood on the DP World Tour, joined at the end of the afternoon by his compatriot Andy Sullivanthen by the Scandinavian.
Your new solo leader @TommyFleetwood1 ????????#BMWPGA | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/qGedtsoYMf
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 8, 2022
Three men in the lead at -9
Fleetwood (six birdies on his last seven holes) and Sullivan (six birdies on his last eight holes) made the difference at the end of Wentworth’s course, which was waterlogged at times during the showers. Hovland, for his part, took even more advantage of the last two par 5s of the London layout (17 and 18) with an eagle on 18 following a birdie on 17, after the one on par 4 on 16. Enough to finish this first round at -9 with a score of -4 on the last three holes!
Viktor Hovland????#BMWPGA | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/ntSeOCYHf3
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 8, 2022
Pavon in the top 15 with Horschel and McIlroy
Matthew Jordan (another Englishman) is only fourth, one stroke behind the three co-leaders. Matthew Pavon was ejected from the top 10 at the very end of the day, but the Bordeaux player is 11th alongside Rory McIlroy and title holder Billy Horschel, thanks in particular to three birdies in a row at the start of his return journey (11, 12 and 13). A small feat for the Frenchman who set off in the very first morning part… in the rain. “We have had mixed days with the weather since the beginning of the week, he euphemized. I must have had five holes with rain today. It was not easy this morning at 6.40 am to attack a course like Wentworth, with a lot of humidity and a ball that is not advancing very much. But I managed to manage well and made a few putts at the right time. I was quite patient today with a good attitude. I will try to find better contacts with my irons at the practice to do even better tomorrow.»
Of the eight Tricolores entered this week in the prestigious Rolex Series tournament, only Frederic Lacroix did not play under par (+1). They are also five to -3, three lengths from the top 5! Victor Perez was stopped at hole number 18 after two last bogeys (-2). It is difficult to know how the rest of a tournament which takes place 10 km from Windsor Castle will unfold. Attacked from all sides by the LIV, Keith Pelley (director of the DP World Tour) and Jay Monahan (PGA Tour Director) could have shouted God Save the Golf. With Charles III new king of England, we will have to get used to God Save the King.
Classification
(Photo Oisin Keniry/Getty Images/AFP)
