BMW PGA Championship

The DP World Tour heads to Wentworth this week for its flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship, with the West Course once again providing the stage for one of the strongest fields of the season. The tournament runs from September 17–20 and is the third Rolex Series event of the 2026 Race to Dubai, with a $9 million prize purse and 8,000 Race to Dubai points on offer. A 144-man field will compete over 72 holes, with the top 65 and ties making the weekend. 

Wentworth's West Course is a par 72 measuring 7,267 yards, and the Harry Colt design has been extensively remodelled over the years, including work by Ernie Els. It's a classic tree-lined parkland course where finding fairways and controlling approach shots is particularly important, while the undulating greens and shaved run-off areas can make scrambling a big part of the challenge. There are four par 5s on the card, including the famous back-to-back closing holes, giving players opportunities to make up ground late in the round. 

The recent winning scores give us a good indication of what to expect. Alex Noren won last year's championship at 19-under, beating Adrien Saddier in a playoff, while Billy Horschel won at 20-under in 2024 and Ryan Fox at 18-under in 2023. Shane Lowry was 17-under in 2022, although that tournament was reduced to 54 holes. Going further back, Tyrrell Hatton, Danny Willett and Francesco Molinari have all won here, while Noren and Luke Donald are both multiple champions. 

And the field this year is seriously strong. Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Shane Lowry, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Patrick Reed, Ryan Fox, Brooks Koepka, Tyrrell Hatton and defending champion Alex Noren are among the names teeing it up. McIlroy is particularly interesting given his record here: he won in 2014 and has added six further top-10 finishes, including three runners-up, while Lowry arrives fresh from his remarkable 11-shot victory at last week's Irish Open.

For me, the key characteristics to look for this week are quality iron play, accuracy off the tee, strong scrambling and the ability to score on the par 5s. Wentworth has produced a fascinating mixture of winners over the years, but it generally rewards players who can combine ball-striking with the ability to handle the tricky greens and run-offs. With conditions potentially playing a part in September, I'm also keen on players who are comfortable in a traditional English parkland test rather than simply relying on distance.

Patrick Reed 3pts ew 18/1 (10 places Boyles)

Patrick Reed arrives at Wentworth in exactly the kind of form I want to see. He finished runner-up at last week’s Irish Open, putting together four rounds of 68-68-68-64, with that final-round 64 coming without a bogey. He was excellent tee-to-green at Doonbeg and, after also finishing 11th at the European Masters the week before, there are signs that Reed is really finding his game again. He currently ranks second on the DP World Tour for approach play, while his short game remains one of the biggest weapons in his arsenal.

Then there’s that ridiculous Wentworth record. Fourth, third, fifth, third in his four appearances — he's literally never finished outside the top five here, and last year he was right in the mix again with a closing 66 to finish third.  His ability around the greens is a huge asset on the West Course, and when the irons are firing like they were last week, he has everything needed to finally go one better. God knows I've probably jinxed him now, but let's go get it.

Jacob Skov Olesen 1pt ew 50/1 (10 places bet365)

Jacob Skov Olesen arrives at Wentworth in serious form. He was right in the mix at Doonbeg, playing in the final group for the last two rounds before eventually slipping back to a tie for seventh with a closing 73. That shouldn't take too much gloss off what was another excellent week, particularly given the company he was keeping at the top of the leaderboard. He now has four top-10 finishes in his last five starts, with the only exception being a T16 at the Nexo Championship. That includes a runner-up finish at the British Masters and a T9 at the Danish Golf Championship, so the confidence should be sky-high. 

This will be his first appearance at Wentworth, but I don't think the lack of course experience is enough to put me off. The DP World Tour themselves highlight just how quickly the big-swinging Dane has established himself, with eight top-10s already this season and two runner-up finishes. With that level of consistency behind him, I think he's perhaps slightly overpriced given the form he's bringing into the week. A debut at the BMW PGA is a different challenge, but there's no reason he can't take another step forward. 

Ewan Ferguson 1pt ew 50/1 (10 places bet365)

Ewen Ferguson arrives at Wentworth in very good form, with finishes of 9th, 24th, 15th and 9th in his last four starts. That includes a T9 at the Danish Championship and another T9 at last week’s Irish Open, where he closed with a brilliant 64 to move up the leaderboard. It’s a run that shows just how consistently he’s been putting himself in good positions, and the feeling is that he’s not far away from putting four rounds together and really contending. 

His Wentworth record is another reason to take notice. He missed the cut in his first two attempts, but has steadily improved since, going T18 in 2024 and T5 last year. That progression is particularly interesting given how much better he arrives this time around compared with 12 months ago. He’s also a strong fit statistically, ranking well for driving accuracy and GIR, two areas that should serve him well around the West Course. The form is there, the course form is improving, and I think he’s definitely one to watch this week. 

Joel Girrbach 1pt ew 200/1 (10 places Powers)

Joel Girrbach is exactly the sort of speculative play I couldn't resist this week. The 33-year-old Swiss impressed me at the Irish Open last week, where I watched him in person, and I actually thought he deserved better than his eventual T23. He finished strongly with a 66, and that followed a T9 at the Omega European Masters and another T9 at the Danish Golf Championship a few weeks previous. 

This will be his BMW PGA Championship debut, but he's arriving with enough form to make him very interesting at a big price. The two recent top-10s show he's capable of putting himself into contention, while his driving accuracy has been a real strength this season. He's certainly a major dark horse, but that's exactly what we're looking for with a speculative effort like this. 

Biltmore Championship

The PGA Tour heads to Asheville, North Carolina this week for the inaugural Biltmore Championship, the opening event of the 2026 FedExCup Fall. The tournament is being played at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove, a Jack Nicklaus-designed course that has never previously hosted a professional event. It’s a 7,249-yard par 71, with five par 3s and four par 5s, so there are plenty of birdie opportunities, but the tight, tree-lined fairways should put a premium on accuracy and positional play. 

With no course history to work from, this is an intriguing week for the punters. The elevation changes, Bentgrass surfaces and four reachable par 5s could produce some low scoring, while approach play from 150 yards-plus and par-3 scoring look particularly important. With the FedExCup Fall also underway, there’s plenty at stake for players looking to secure their status and improve their position heading into 2027. 

Andrew Novak 1.5pts ew 35/1 (10 places Powers)

Andrew Novak is another player I’m keen to keep onside this week. He tends to come to life during the fall, and what better time to do it than now, having had five weeks off since a T7 at the Wyndham Championship. That tied his best result of the season, and he saved his best until last at Sedgefield, firing a 7-under 63 to finish strongly. 

Novak already knows how to get the job done on the PGA Tour, having teamed up with Ben Griffin to win the 2025 Zurich Classic — his first Tour victory. He also won the 2025 Grant Thornton Invitational with Laura Coughlin, although that isn't a PGA Tour victory. He's a North Carolina native too, so this is effectively a home-state event, and with the inaugural Biltmore Championship taking place just outside Asheville, I like the setup for him. Five weeks fresh, coming off a T7 and with a habit of finding his game in the fall — let's see if Novak can start this one with a bang. 

Chandler Phillips 1pt ew 70/1 (10 places bet365)

Chandler Phillips still has the best moustache on the PGA Tour in my opinion, and hopefully the golf can start matching it again this week. It was a frustrating 2026 for the 29-year-old Huntsville native for the most part, but there were some real signs of his class returning late in the regular season. He finished 15th, 15th, 3rd, MC and 22nd in his final five starts, including that excellent third place at the 3M Open, before closing with a solid T22 at the Wyndham. 

He's now had a few weeks to reset, and perhaps a rejuvenated Chandler Phillips can produce a week to remember at this brand-new event. His putting has been a genuine strength this season, ranking 25th in Strokes Gained: Putting, while he's also been particularly good on the par 4s. � There are obviously question marks after a difficult year, but the late-season form gives me enough encouragement to take a chance. 

Davis Chatfield 1pt ew 80/1 (10 places Boyles)

Davis Chatfield is a player I’m convinced is going to fire at some stage during the fall series. This boy is talented. Simple as. The 27-year-old endured a first two-thirds of the season to forget, missing ten cuts in his first 14 starts, but he really steadied the ship as the regular season progressed. He made the cut in five of his final six starts, including a career-best T5 at the ISCO Championship, followed by a T33, T34, T16 and T25 to close things out. 

There are some encouraging numbers behind that late-season revival too, particularly his approach play and putting over his recent starts. He was gaining an average of 0.654 strokes on approach and 0.694 with the putter across his last five tournaments. Now he gets a fresh start at a brand-new event, and I’m hoping this is the week everything clicks. He'll fire at some stage during the fall series — I just hope it's this week. 

Ben Martin 1pt ew 300/1 (10 places Boyles)

Ben Martin remains an enigma in my mind. He can look absolutely supreme one week and disastrous the next, and in recent years it’s been far more of the latter. But at 39, time is certainly ticking if he wants to add to his sole PGA Tour victory, which came at the 2014 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. 

There was at least plenty of encouragement last week, though, as Martin finished T6 at the Simmons Bank Open, firing four rounds of 65-68-64-64 to finish 19-under. That’s exactly the sort of result that makes me want to have a speculative poke at him, because Martin has shown throughout his career that he can seemingly produce a performance from nowhere. He currently sits No. 476 in the world, but with the FedExCup Fall beginning and confidence potentially returning, why can't the veteran pull off a shock this week? Stranger things have happened.