Insane 36 hours sees golf star almost miss the BMW PGA before making the cut in darkness!

Andrew 'Beef' Johnston lines up his putt on the 18th hole at the BMW PGA Championship

After sharing his disappointment at not being in the field for the 2024 tournament, we follow Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston’s sensational BMW PGA Championship story.

In the half-light at 7.15am on Thursday, Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston was woken by his phone ringing to tell him he was in the field for the BMW PGA Championship, if he could be at Wentworth for a 9.35am tee time. In the near darkness at 7.30pm on Friday, he made a phenomenal up and down from the greenside bunker of the par-5 18^th to secure a birdie and guarantee his place in the DP World Tour’s flagship tournament for the weekend. 

Just two days earlier he’d told of his disappointment at not making the field for this year’s event as we wrote his next column for Today’s Golfer. In fact, if you pick up a copy of our next magazine, you’ll find the opening line: “I was gutted to miss the BMW PGA at Wentworth last month.” 

Never has the ‘*correct at time of going to press’ been so apt. I look forward to reading all the posts on social media asking if he’d had short-term memory loss. 

In fairness, his column was still accurate 15 hours after we’d gone to press, until he received the call from the DP World Tour to say Laurie Canter and Vincent Norman’s withdrawals had secured him a spot if he could make the last-minute dash to Surrey. 

And it was a dash. He was in Hampshire, enjoying a few child-free days at a spa with wife Jodie when he had to break the news that their treatments and pampering would have to be postponed. A rapid call to caddie Jess McAvoy followed with instructions to collect Beef’s clubs and clothing from his Mum’s house and meet at Wentworth. They both made it, but with just 30 minutes to spare.

“Chaos,” Beef replied to my text asking what had happened after his opening round, followed by a host of laughing emojis. “I only had 20 minutes to warm up!” 

The fact he shot a one-over 73 was mightily impressive, especially when you consider that he hadn’t picked up a club since missing the cut in brutal weather at the Irish Open last Friday. He’d spent the weekend enjoying “too many pints of the black stuff” before flying home on Tuesday and deciding that if he wasn’t in the field for the BMW PGA he’d take a few days off and recuperate ready for his end of season push. That recuperation will have to wait a few more weeks. 

The 35-year-old’s score was even more impressive when you consider that Jess, the man Beef turns to for advice on golf courses, last visited Wentworth many years ago. 

“He was guiding me round in the first round,” Beef’s bagman and childhood friend laughed. “I hadn’t been here since I was a kid, but luckily he’s played it loads and knows it well.” 

• Beef reveals anxiety as he battles to secure his future at golf’s top table

Knowing how much reaching the weekend would mean to Beef, and with the story behind his place in the field, I made my own dash to Wentworth for the second round to follow the drama unfolding. And it unfolded quickly. Lightning was crackling through the sky as I pulled into Virginia Drive and play was suspended before I’d made it out of the car. With Beef not due off until 1.15pm and a decent delay now inevitable it meant finishing his round would be a challenge. He arrived on the range at 1.30pm, all smiles as usual, but wasn’t confident he’d be finishing. “They called it at 7.10pm last night and the back-nine is slow,” he said as we walked towards his practice spot, next to Rory McIlroy, who matched Beef’s smile as he greeted him with a hefty pat to the shoulder. His round eventually got underway at 2.30pm with the World No.402 knowing he’d need to shoot at least two-under par, and probably three, on the day to make the cut. 

I was fortunate enough to follow the round with Beef’s nearest and dearest, including Jodie and daughter Harley. I’ve rarely spent my Fridays at a golf tournament watching a player battling to make the cut. Naturally my interest tends to be peaked by the top of the leaderboard. But this was pure drama and seeing it etched on the faces of those who care about the man most was captivating as they checked leaderboards and phones, cheered every good shot, and sucked their teeth or grimaced over every bad one. 

“I reckon it’s easier to play than watch… definitely less stressful,” one said as another birdie putt slid by. Beef may well agree, but he’s a new man with a new approach to both life and golf. He still has the famous smile, covered by the even more famous beard and he’s still greeted onto every tee and green to cries of “BEEEEEEEF”. But his injury woes have given him a newfound attitude. He was unsure if he’d ever play the game again as he struggled to recover, let alone be on this stage. 

• I caddied at a DP World Tour event for a Tour Pro: here’s everything I learned

He narrowly missed a birdie putt on the first before failing to get up and down from the rough at the par-3 2^nd to fall back in his bid. But Beef 2.0 knows when to be aggressive and three birdies followed in his next four holes. He reached the turn with a string of pars before dropping a shot at the par-3 10^th, his chipping letting him down as he again failed to get up and down. He steadied the ship with a par at the par-4 11^th, narrowly missing a birdie putt, before getting a shot back at the par-5 12^th, an eagle chip just failing to break in time and leaving him a tap-in. But for all the good shots he continued to hit, the birdie that would have eased the cutline stress  

“It’s projected at one-under,” I told him as he and Jess jogged to the 18^th, aware of the fading light. “I need to birdie it,” he said. “I want to make sure.” 

The chances of finishing the round had looked unlikely as the light faded fast and the klaxon to signal play’s suspension sounded as Beef stepped up to hit his tee shot. Fortunately, Oliver Wilson had already sent a ball down the fairway, which meant the entire group could finish the hole.  

He shaped a perfect drive around the corner to leave 195 yards into the green, but his figure faded into the darkness as he waited for the group ahead to clear the putting surface, which was being perfectly illuminated by the large leaderboard to the right. Stage set. Stage missed. Beef’s approach clipped the trees and fell into the bunker, leaving him a shot that would have been tricky enough were this a casual Friday evening knock, let alone a vital shot in his season. 

But the aggressive nature of the round wasn’t going to stop now. He played a delicate splash which trickled four feet left of the flag and, after a nervous wait as his playing partners holed out, he drained the putt and pumped his fist as his family celebrated, their relief palpable, and the crowds that had remained shouted his name. 

Making the weekend is a decent reward, but having achieved that goal, Beef wants more.  

“I didn’t want to turn up and not take advantage of the opportunity. That would have felt like a waste,” he said immediately after his round. 

“Yeah, we didn’t have ideal preparation, but I’ve played well. I know this course well, I’ve played well here in the past and I love this event and what the DP World Tour have done with it. 

“I’d played aggressively all day and that didn’t change. I’m hitting it really well, I just didn’t really have the pace of the greens. 

“Now we need to push on and see what we can do over the weekend. Making the cut is an achievement, I’m delighted, but now we’ll reset and go again.”  

Playing the weekend in a Rolex Series event guarantees Beef some decent ranking points in his bigger quest to reach the Tour’s season finale events in the Middle East.

It also guarantees him some prize money, a chunk of which will have to be used treating wife Jodie to that spa break they were forced to curtail. 

“I should be in a jacuzzi now!” Jodie laughed as we spoke before the second round got underway. “He’d better make the cut!” Perhaps the fist pump as his putt dropped on the 18^th was one of relief rather than one of joy. 

I jest, of course. And it was clear how much it meant to both Andrew and Jodie as they reunited in the scoring area after the round. “Fucking get in,” Beef shouted as his wife jumped into his arms and high-fived a delighted-looking Jess. Hugs and kisses from daughter Harley and his extended family weren’t far behind, before Beef took the time to sign autographs and have photos with every fan who had waited to congratulate him. 

What lies ahead over the weekend remains to be seen. Inevitably, where Beef’s involved there will be fun, drama, laughter and some great golf shots. But whether he flies up the leaderboard or not, he’ll always have that Friday night moment in the 18^th green spotlight. 

• Find out what time Beef and the rest of the field are going out for the weekend

About the Author

Rob Jerram – Digital Editor

Rob specializes in the DP World Tour, PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and the Ryder Cup, spending large chunks of his days reading about, writing about, and watching the tours each month.

He’s passionate about the equipment used by professional golfers and is also a font of knowledge when it comes to golf balls, golf trolleys, and golf bags, testing thousands down the years.

Rob uses a Callaway Paradym driver, TaylorMade M5 5-wood, TaylorMade P790 driving iron, Callaway Paradym irons (4-AW), TaylorMade MG3 wedges (52º, 58º), Odyssey Tri-Hot 5k Double Wide putter, and Callaway Chrome Soft X golf ball.

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