BMW PGA Championships, Wentworth Club: Day 4

Manassero wins PGA Championship at Wentworth

Matteo Manassero claims title after a birdie on the fourth play-off hole is enough to defeat a steely Simon Khan.



Manassero, Khan and Warren all finished on -10 at the end of their final rounds to top the leaderboard. This meant that they would go back to the 18th hole to begin a three-way play-off. Warren began the play-off with a wild drive into the trees before playing his third shot into the water putting him out of contention. Khan and Manassero both managed to keep their cool as they matched each other's scores right up until the fourth play-off hole. This time, Manassero opted to take driver off the tee in order go for the green in two whereas Khan used his three wood which forced the Englishman into going for the green from further back. Khan was  left to rue going for the green as his second shot found the water which meant Manaserro's birdie was enough to win the tournament.

After leading by two shots after four holes, Lee Westwood's driving began to falter which put all hopes of winning to bed after a one over round of 73. . Hook after hook left the Englishmen amongst the trees during the back nine which led to continuous bogeys. A rather disappointing end to the week for Westwood who has had trouble throughout his career closing out tournaments from winning positions.

BMW PGA Championships, Wentworth Club: Day 2

Francesco Molinari (-6) takes a one shot lead at the halfway stage of the BMW PGA Championships at Wentworth. Players struggled through rain, gusty winds and the freezing cold, as well as 18 holes, during a tough second round at the Wentworth club in Surrey.



A superb performance from Italian F. Molinari (-6) carded seven birdies on his way to a round of 68 which even started off with a bogey on the first. F. Molinari will hold a one shot advantage from a group of four players, including Englishman Mark Foster (-5), going into the third round. An impressive run of four straight birdies on the final four holes from Eddie Pepperell (-4) saw the young rookie shoot 66.

Ernie Els (-3) and Lee Westwood (-3) both managed to combat the horrific weather conditions to maintain a strong challenge going into Saturday's third round with Els going round in 68 whilst Westwood shot 71. It seemed Sergio Garcia (-1) arguably faced the biggest challenge as he continues to battle 'TigerGate'. However, the Spaniard held his nerve despite the putter stalling further progress, managing to go round in 71.

With the cut set to be +2, there were some major casualties who were unable to battle the conditions well enough to be able to come back for the weekend. Both Rory McIlroy (+5) and Graeme McDowell (+5) were left to rue poor performances after two rounds at the Wentworth club. A succession of bogeys meant that McDowell would not make the cut whilst McIlroy's driving demons came back to haunt him as hook after hook left the Northern Irishman consistently off the fairways throughout his round. Paul Casey (+4) saw his good work in the first round diminish as a front nine that included five bogeys and one double bogey crushed any chance of making the cut whilst Ian Poulter (+8) could not find any form, posting a second round of 76. Further bad news for Luke Donald (+6), who struggled with a finger injury and illness, could not recover from a poor first round to finish his defence of the title with a level par second round score of 72.

BMW PGA Championships, Wentworth Club: Day 1

James Kingston cards 66 to take clubhouse lead after first round.

A tough opening round at the BMW PGA Championships as the weather proved to be challenging throughout the day whilst the threat of thunder even halted play for approximately 1 hour 30 minutes in the early evening. However, it was South African James Kingston (-6) who carded a superb round of 66, including 7 birdies and 1 bogey, to take a one shot lead into the second round over Mikko Ilonen (-5).



It was a good start to the tournament for some of the victorious European Ryder Cup 2012 winning team members as Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer both finished on -2 after their opening rounds. Paul Casey (70) will be pleased to come back from an injury plagued season to post a score of -2.

After a controversial week continues for Sergio Garcia (E), who has been in a spat with Tiger Woods, an eagle at the last hole to score 70 will boost his confidence going into the second round. Ernie Els (E) and Justin Rose (E) will both feel slightly disappointed coming off the 18th hole as Els finished with a bogey whilst Rose with a double bogey.

There were some poor starts from Rory McIlroy (+2) and Graeme McDowell (+2) as both struggled to combat the tough conditions. McDowell went along nicely with a single birdie and bogey at 10 and 11 respectively but an unwelcome double bogey at 18 meant the Northern Irishman posted a round of 74. McIlroy looked to be in a commanding position as 4 birdies and a bogey left him on -3 going onto the 13th tee. Sadly, a run of 5 bogeys on the last six holes means that McIlroy will be 7 shots behind the leader going into round 2.

It was a sorry start for hotly favoured Luke Donald (+6) and his compatriot Ian Poulter (+4). An eagle and a birdie was not enough to save Poulter's round as seven bogeys left the Englishman down the leaderboard. Similarly, Donald could not recover from a poor start which left him going into the back nine +5. From there it only got worse as a further bogey summed up Donald's disappointing day.

Expect another hard day tomorrow in the second round as similar weather conditions are likely to continue making it tough to score low.