“Can’t wait!” “Who even are these people?” Reactions to the BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am line-up
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A host of tour pros and celebrities will tee it up at Wentworth on Wednesday for the BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am.
The BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth is one of the showcase events on the DP World Tour. Not only does it attract a strong field of players looking to bag prize money and Ryder Cup points, there’s also a host of celebrities from different fields in action for the Wednesday pro-am.
Each fourball features one tour pro and three amateurs. It’s a shotgun start, with the first groups teeing off at 8am and a second wave starting at 1.30pm.
Former footballer Gareth Bale and retired cricketer Stuart Broad have the honor of starting from the 1st tee in the morning alongside world number three Rory McIlroy.
Sir Andy Murray, recently retired from tennis, will join fellow Scot Robert MacIntyre and start on the 18th.
Here’s the full line-up:
BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am groups and tee times – 8am shotgun start
| Group | Professional | Amateur 1 | Hcp | Amateur 2 | Hcp | Amateur 3 | Hcp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1A | Rory McIlroy (NIR) | Gareth Bale | Scr | Stuart Broad | 6.4 | TBC | |
| 1B | Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) | Tom Holland | 2.9 | Harry Holland | 9.3 | Sam Holland | 6.1 |
| 2 | Ryan Fox (NZL) | Jazzy Golfer | 16 | Jay Bothroyd | 8.2 | Ellie Skoog | 8.2 |
| 3 | Padraig Harrington (IRE) | Surinder Arora | 18 | Sanjay Arora | 18 | TBC | |
| 4 | Danny Willett (ENG) | Roger Hancock | 10 | Nigel Spokes | 10 | Bryn Williams | 4 |
| 5 | Shane Lowry (IRE) | Max Fosh | 18 | Marvin Brooks | 10 | Henni Zuel | Pro |
| 6 | Jesper Svensson (SWE) | Stevie Brown | 6.1 | Ashley Pheasant | 4.9 | Callum Nicol | Pro |
| 7 | Francesco Molinari (ITA) | Richard Woolfrey | 14 | Justin Shields | 7.8 | Mathew Berns | 14 |
| 8 | Thorbjørn Olesen (DEN) | Seb Bulpin | 0.2 | Barry Lavers | 10.8 | Mick Johnson | 8.8 |
| 9 | Sami Välimäki (FIN) | Gary Fraser | 1 | John Ions | 7.4 | Jeremy Bayliss | 9.9 |
| 10 | Matthieu Pavon (FRA) | Patrick Moloney | 18.1 | Ronan Moloney | 13.2 | Theo Baker | 18 |
| 11 | Pablo Larrazabal (ESP) | Brian O’Grady | 15 | Herb Cook | 18 | Mark Morganstein | 18 |
| 12 | Edoardo Molinari (ITA) | Ben Louis | 18 | Jon Masterson | 22 | Nick Herm | 13 |
| 13 | Peter Malnati (USA) | Eric Nicoli | 8.6 | Rob Hissom | 3.2 | Ahmed Tayeb | 9 |
| 14 | Jorge Campillo (ESP) | Simon Vincent | 19 | Wulf Van Alkemade | 9.5 | Achilles Constankakopoulos | 18 |
| 15 | Sepp Straka (AUT) | Phil Leonard | 3 | Peter South | 10 | Paula O’Kell | 14.9 |
| 16 | Luke Donald (ENG) | Ben Stokes | 3.6 | Jon Wilkin | 8.8 | David Jones | 9.9 |
| 17 | Adam Scott (AUS) | Martin Robertshaw | 9 | Andrew Burns | 4.9 | David Shone | 8.1 |
| 18A | Robert MacIntyre (SCO) | Andy Murray | 7 | Jimmy Anderson | 1.8 | Anton du Beke | 1 |
| 18B | Justin Rose (ENG) | Lee Mackie | Pro | Kunal Rawal | 1.9 | Matus Mrazik | 4.5 |
BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am groups and tee times – 1.30pm shotgun start
| Group | Professional | Amateur 1 | Hcp | Amateur 2 | Hcp | Amateur 3 | Hcp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1A | Matt Fitzpatrick (ENG) | Sukhvir Singh Manku | 9.5 | Paul Gibbs | 15 | Jayant Nanda | 15 |
| 1B | Matt Wallace (ENG) | Tom Dean | 18 | Robbie Fowler | 7.2 | Jordan Pickford | 9.9 |
| 2 | Nicolai Højgaard (DEN) | Viren Gupta | 12 | Hogesh Prasad | 18 | Shirish Saraf | 18 |
| 3 | Vincent Norrman (SWE) | Wei Wu | 13 | Chaiyatat Bunjapamai | 1 | Galba Zheng | 18 |
| 4 | Rasmus Højgaard (DEN) | Jamie George | 9.8 | Ben Earl | 5 | Ollie Pope | 1 |
| 5 | Victor Perez (FRA) | Paul Bouteloup | +1.4 | Simon Corkill | 5.4 | Neil MacLaren | 16 |
| 6 | Si Woo Kim (KOR) | Graham Pepe | 12 | Jose Carrasco | 15 | John Gianquitto | 13.5 |
| 7 | Niklas Norgaard (DEN) | Jason Godley | 12 | Michael Crealey | 13.2 | Jack Goodship | 7 |
| 8 | Aaron Rai (ENG) | Ashwin Punde | 18 | Eoghan Quinn | 18 | Sanjay Jobanputra | 14 |
| 9 | Alex Noren (SWE) | Ben Foster | 8 | Kevin Pietersen | 2 | Troy Deeney | 12 |
| 10 | Harry Hall (ENG) | Jamie Jameson | 7.3 | Jess Pilgrim | Scr | Josh Mugridge | 9.1 |
| 11 | Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP) | Shekhar Mathur | 1.6 | Ashwani Mathur | 5 | David Cuningham | 1.2 |
| 12 | Yannik Paul (GER) | Mark Rosenberg | 18 | Arron Shepherd | 3.5 | Victor Ponta | 10 |
| 13 | Alexander Björk (SWE) | Callum McGinley | 18 | Andrew Shane | 18 | Seb Carmichael-Brown | 4 |
| 14 | Beyong Hun An (KOR) | Duncan Scott | 13 | James Guy | 10.5 | Georgia Ball | Pro |
| 15 | Thomas Detry (BEL) | Rajan Bagri | 8.1 | Stuart Frith | 11.5 | Andrew Voss | 1.8 |
| 16 | Guido Migliozzi (ITA) | Llambi Joachim | 10.8 | Rishad Molobhoy | 11.3 | Peter Gibson | 4.3 |
| 17 | Matteo Manassero (ITA) | Sam Thompson | 21 | Gwilym Lee | 11 | Tony Bellew | 18 |
| 18A | Billy Horschel (USA) | Peter Finch | Pro | Mac Boucher | Pro | Olivia Cowan | Pro |
| 18B | Thriston Lawrence (RSA) | Michael McIntyre | 18 | Dougray Scott | 3.1 | Dan Walker | +1.2 |
The line-up garnered mixed reactions from fans on social media.
“Can’t wait!” said ‘golfwalkerk’ on Instagram.
‘maketeanotcoffee’ was less impressed, asking: “who even are half these people. 😬” Admittedly, I’d be astonished if anyone could go through the whole field and explain who every amateur is without a bit of sneaky Googling.
‘_jakeeconroy’ made his feelings clear: “YouTubers 😴😴😴😴”
“Where’s Tubes and co?” asked leesawyer08.
Meanwhile, plenty of fans noticed a spare spot in the first group and were keen to offer to fill in alongside Rory McIlroy, Gareth Bale, and Stuart Broad. I’d say it’s highly unlikely that that group stays as a three-ball, so it’ll be interesting to see who is lucky enough to get the fourth spot. I’ve got my car booked in for a service and MOT but could probably juggle things if the DP World Tour are reading this and want to get in touch…
About the author
Rob McGarr – Contributing Editor
Rob has been a writer and editor for over 15 years, covering all manner of subjects for leading magazines and websites.
He has previously been Features Editor of Today’s Golfer magazine and Digital Editor of todays-golfer.com, and held roles at FHM, Men’s Running, Golf World, and MAN Magazine.
You can follow him on YouTube where – depending on what day of the week it is – he’ll either be trying his best to get his handicap down to scratch or shoving his clubs in a cupboard, never to be seen again.
Rob is a member at Royal North Devon, England’s oldest golf course, where he plays off a three-handicap.
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Tour pros line up alongside celebrities in the BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am
