09 Sep 2021 | Professional golf |
Aussies on Tour: Scott returns to European Tour hallowed ground
by PGA of Australia
By Tony Webeck
Adam Scott has wasted little time in moving past the disappointment of an early exit from the FedEx Cup Playoffs, making his return to London’s Wentworth Club for the first time since 2006 for this week’s BMW PGA Championship.
One of the showpiece events of the European Tour calendar and the third of the lucrative Rolex Series events of the season, the BMW PGA Championship takes place at Wentworth Club where Scott’s best finish is a tie for 11th way back in 2004 in his early days on tour.
Before progressing to the glamour of the PGA Tour in the US, Scott won five times on the European Tour but outside the majors and World Golf Championships has not played a stand-alone European Tour event since the 2017 Scottish Open.
Scott is one of four Aussies in the field at Wentworth including the most recent Rolex Series winner, abrdn Scottish Open champion Min Woo Lee.
Speaking on this week’s Life on Tour podcast, Lee said that his playoff victory over Matthew Fitzpatrick and Thomas Detry in a field boasting four of the top five players in the Official World Golf Rankings was a confidence boost the 23-year-old hopes to carry into the second half of the season.
“It is a very good thing that I did and hopefully I can keep it going,” Lee said.
“You don’t get to win events that often and I got to win with sch a strong field. It was so amazing to win and to play against those guys.
“Hopefully it’s a really good building block for the future.”
As the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour enjoy a break before commencing their respective new seasons, much of this week’s golf action is centred in Europe.
In addition to the BMW PGA Championship three Aussies are in Switzerland for the Ladies European Tour’s Swiss Ladies Open, the Challenge Tour is in Germany for the Big Green Egg Challenge and two-time runner-up Peter Fowler and Kiwis Michael Campbell and Michael Long are in Aberdeen for the Scottish Senior Open.
Sydney’s John Lyras is in the field for the Forme Tour Championship in Pennsylvania and Boeing Classic winner Rod Pampling leads the Australasian assault at the Champions Tour’s Ascension Charity Classic in Missouri.
Round 1 tee times AEST
European Tour
BMW PGA Championship
Wentworth Golf Club, Virginia Water, Surrey, England
4.50pm Scott Hend, Antoine Rozner, Richard McEvoy
5.30pm Adam Scott, Justin Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick
8.50pm Wade Ormsby, Alexander Levy, Andrea Pavan
9.30pm Min Woo Lee, Calum Hill, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Defending champion: Tyrrell Hatton
Past Aussie winners: Rodger Davis (1986), Mike Harwood (1990)
Top Aussie prediction: Wade Ormsby
TV schedule: Live 5.30pm-3am Thursday, Friday; Live 9pm-2.30am Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503
Ladies European Tour
Swiss Ladies Open
Golfpark Holzhäusern, Switzerland
5.50pm Whitney Hillier, Kim Metraux, Karolin Lampert
6pm Stephanie Kyriacou, Marianne Skarpnord, Amy Boulden
7.05pm Amy Walsh, Heather Macrae, Annelie Sjoholm
Defending champion: Amy Boulden
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Stephanie Kyriacou
TV schedule: 10am-12pm Friday, Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503
Korean PGA Tour
The 37th Shinhan Donghae Open
Bears Best Cheongna GC, Incheon
9.40am Won Joon Lee
12.50pm Junseok Lee
2pm Kevin Chun
Defending champion: Kim Han-byeol
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Junseok Lee
Challenge Tour
Big Green Egg German Challenge
Wittelsbacher Golfclub, Neuburg an der Donau, Germany
4.50pm Dimitrios Papadatos, Pedro Lencart, Šimon Zach
5.20pm Daniel Hillier, Filippo Bergamaschi, Philipp Mejow
5.30pm Josh Geary, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen, Samuel Del Val
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Dimi Papadatos
Forme Tour
Forme Tour Championship
Huntsville Golf Club, Dallas, Pennsylvania
4.10am* John Lyras, Ashton Van Horne, Wei-Hsuan Wang
Champions Tour
Ascension Charity Classic
Norwood Hills Country Club, St Louis, Missouri
Australasians in the field: Steven Alker, Robert Allenby, Stephen Leaney, David McKenzie, Rod Pampling, John Senden
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Stephen Leaney
TV schedule: Live 5.30am-8am Saturday, Sunday; Live 5am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 503
Legends Tour
Scottish Senior Open
Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, Aberdeen, Scotland
Australasians in the field: Michael Campbell, Peter Fowler, Michael Long
Defending champion: Paul Lawrie (2019)
Past Aussie winners: Noel Ratcliffe (2000), Terry Gale (2003)
Top Aussie prediction: Peter Fowler
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