This week’s BMW PGA Championship is the flagship event of the European Tour. Befitting the stature of the tournament, it has attracted the who’s who of European golf and the stage is set for some fantastic action at Wentworth.

Apart from Graeme McDowell, who has decided to be with his wife as they expect their first child soon, and Victor Dubuisson, who has hurt his shoulder, it is a quality field that has descended on the West Course here.

You’ve got the World No 3 Henrik Stenson, Rory McIlroy, reigning US Open champion Justin Rose, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and the in-form Martin Kaymer among others and if the weather holds, I am expecting record crowds once again for what is the 60th edition of our PGA Championship.

Matteo Manassero is the defending champion, but if I have to stick my neck out and pick a few pre-tournament favourites, I’d name Donald, Kaymer and Sergio. I am a great believer in momentum in golf, and these three players have it going their way in the past few weeks.

Obviously, Kaymer won the Players Championship a fortnight ago on the PGA Tour, and it would be a fantastic ‘flagship-event’ double if he triumphs on Sunday.

Donald hasn’t won anything recently but the swing changes he was trying to incorporate seem to be bearing fruits for him. He has had two top-four finishes in his last five PGA Tour starts, and he also has won twice at Wentworth in the last three years.

Sergio really has been one of the most consistent players in the world since the end of last year and I am surprised he has not won a couple of big events in this period. The only blip in his case was the missed cut at the Masters, but he can make up for some of that heartbreak with his first BMW PGA Championship win.

What makes the tournament even more exciting is the quality of the golf course we play it on. The West Course of Wentworth is a beauty, and I feel the re-design by Ernie Els, despite the flak he received in the first year, has made the original Harry Colt design even better.

My favourite bit about Wentworth is that it has a very tough sequence of starting holes — both the par-four first and third need to be handled with care — and then it has the most exciting finishing sequence in the back-to-back par-5s 17th and 18th. The possibilities are endless — you can close eagle-eagle, or you can run up big numbers if you do not negotiate the lurking danger on both the holes.

Another factor is the swirling wind in the tree-lined golf course, and the unpredictable weather.

Last year, I was playing with a bit of injury, and I actually had to retire halfway during the second round when a weather system moved in over the area, and temperature dropped perilously close to zero within matter of minutes! That was freaky, and for the sake of the fans, I hope we have pleasant weather throughout this year.

 

(Jeev Milkha Singh is a four-time champion on the European Tour)