All 12 of Europe’s Ryder Cup team are in action at the BMW PGA Championship, while stars of sport and showbiz featured in the Celebrity Pro-Am; Watch the Rolex Series event live on Thursday from 8.30am on Sky Sports Golf
Gareth Bale admits to having a few nerves about playing with Rory McIlroy at the BMW PGA Championship Celebrity Pro-Am!
What were the talking points from the Celebrity Pro-Am at the BMW PGA Championship? Sky Sports’ Jamie Weir and Ali Stafford look back at an eventful Wednesday at Wentworth, featuring Rory McIlroy, Gareth Bale…and Spider-Man.
Ryder Cup on the mind at Wentworth
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Jamie Weir: The BMW PGA Championship is obviously a big week in its own right, but it’s difficult to not have one eye on events in Rome in two weeks’ time.
All 12 of the European Ryder Cup team are in the field this week at Wentworth, along with Luke Donald and four of his vice captains, and all of them are fresh off a group trip to Rome on Monday.
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Team Europe captain Luke Donald explains his Ryder Cup selections and how he plans to win back the famous trophy.
Having spoken to most of the team, they all found this trip hugely beneficial and in Rory McIlroy’s words, he wondered why they’ve never done it before. Not only did they get to play the Marco Simone course, but in the evening they got to enjoy each other’s company and sat around regaling each other with stories about past experiences of Ryder Cups.
Jon Rahm told me that it was actually quite moving to see some of the biggest names in golf vulnerable and laying themselves bare in front the rest of the team. The young rookies in the team will have certainly got a lot from that.
Big names generate huge crowds
Ali Stafford: You would assume that a midweek sporting event during term-time could limit how many people were in attendance, although the traditional pre-tournament curtain raise once again proved extremely popular.
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The grandstand at the first was at capacity when play began at 8am on Wednesday, with thousands of fans enjoying getting up close to some of the biggest names in golf and their star-studded playing partners.
Crowds lined the fairways around many of the signature holes across the West Course, while fans took the opportunity to take in the food, drink and array of activities on offer in the BMW PGA Championship fan village.
Wentworth will be hosting a world first in TV production as the BMW PGA Championship 2023 will be ‘fully powered by green hydrogen’, creating zero carbon emissions.
Fans of all ages were in the crowd, with the stars of sport and showbiz encouraging plenty of youngsters to take the day off school to sample the golf in person. Attendances will only get bigger for the four tournament days.
Bale takes McIlroy plaudits
Ali Stafford: Former Tottenham and Real Madrid star Gareth Bale was in the group off the first tee for this morning’s shotgun start, with the 0.5 handicapper impressing playing partner McIlroy.
Rory McIlroy was partnered by Gareth Bale on Wednesday at the BMW PGA Championship
“I enjoyed playing with him,” McIlroy said. “He does hit it very well. He’s got a really good swing. A couple little of bits that he would need to tidy up around the green.
“We’re members at the same club down the road, so I’m going to play a bit of golf with him next week. He’s a probably low digits to scratch golfer, but definitely some room for improvement as well.”
Bale has played in front of huge crowds for club and country during his glittering football career, although admitted playing in front of a golf crowd presented a different pressure.
“It was a little bit nerve-wracking,” Bale said to Sky Sports about his opening tee shot. “Obviously, was just trying to impress him!”
Bale enjoys Spurs’ progress under Ange
Jamie Weir: Every now and then you get reminders of how random your job can be, with the BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am day has to be about as random as they come!
Europe’s Ryder Cup stars are all in action at the BMW PGA Championship, the flagship event of the DP World Tour calendar, with extended coverage live on Sky Sports Golf.
I spent a couple of holes walking and talking with Bale, who is a huge self-confessed Spurs fan and even bigger admirer of them since he retired. He, like many Tottenham fans, is loving Ange Postecoglou and the style of football he has brought to Tottenham.
I chatted to him about how quickly James Maddison has settled in, the importance of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven staying fit throughout the season, the incredible transformation in Yves Bissouma from last season, and just generally the style of football Postecoglou has introduced.
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He pretty much watches every Spurs game and would’ve loved playing under Ange, but is looking forward to Spurs games again after four years of them playing pretty dire football under Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.
He is a huge admirer of Brennan Johnson, another young Welsh winger now wearing the colours of Tottenham and hopefully can follow in Bale’s illustrious footsteps.
Ali Stafford: It’s not very often that Masters champion Jon Rahm isn’t the headline name in a marquee group, but the huge crowds gathering at the first were largely more interested in the trio of brothers making up the rest of his fourball.
Camera phones were out in full force to try and get a shot of actor Tom Holland ahead of his morning tee time, with the Spider-Man star joined – in matching trousers – by brothers Sam and Harry.
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The Hollywood A-lister enjoyed a selfie with a fan dressed in a Spider-Man mask, took photos with as many spectators as he could around the practice green and was bombarded with signature requests as he made his way through the lines of spectators to the first tee.
“All we want to do is the beat the team in front,” was Holland’s message to the crowd of his opening drive, which he joked was going to go right ahead of his prediction quickly coming true!
Tom Holland was one of the stars involved in the Celebrity Pro-Am ahead of the BMW PGA Championship
Holland let out a huge “fore right!” as the ball was sprayed towards the spectators down by the trees, although clenched his fists in celebration and was visibly delighted to see his brother Sam nail one down the middle of the fairway.
Rahm a future Spider-Man?!
Jamie Weir: I walked the 17th at Wentworth with Tom Holland, who is a huge Spurs and – like Bale – is loving big Ange and is incredibly enthused about Tottenham’s start to the season. He was also a huge admirer of Rahm, his playing partner for the day.
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He said it was incredible watching him hit a golf ball, at which point I suggested that he maybe great at golf but wouldn’t make a great Spider-Man. Tom disagreed and said that Rahm in Lycra would be quite a sight to behold!
Watch the BMW PGA Championship throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins on Thursday with Featured Groups from 8.30am ahead of full coverage from midday on Sky Sports Golf.
Live coverage from the opening day of the Ryder Cup begins on Friday September 29 from 6am on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the PGA Tour, DP Tour, Ryder Cup and more with NOW.
