The European Tour's flagship event at Wentworth returns this week. I hear the course is in tremendous condition so expect to see good numbers. I can only assume that they haven't decided to do a run of hollowtining in the past couple of days, although that would make it interesting.
As ever it is a very strong field - a $7,000,000 prize fund will do that, strange hey. It's all for the glory, the money is irrelevant! A few travelling from the other side of the pond include Ian Poulter, Paul Casey (winner in 2009) and Branden Grace. Over the years the winner has been a player that you might not have expected - think Chris Wood in 2016, Beyong Hun An in 2015 and Matteo Mannassero in 2013.
With that in mind, here's my main contenders to be the best on the West Course...
RORY MCILROY
Let's get the obvious one out the way first. Rory is favourite coming into the week but not necessarily on the back of any great form. He missed the cut at The Players and hasn't done much since his win at Bay Hill. He is favourite based purely on his talent and rightly so. Basically if the Rory we know shows up, he's very difficult to beat. He's just not been the Rory we know all too often recently, but still I wouldn't put it past him. He certainly knows how to win at Wentworth, taking home the trophy back in 2014. He did subsequently miss the cut the following year and hasn't played in it since. Much has changed at the West Course so it's far from just the Rory show but for me, if he's on form, there's few better. He's not where I'll be putting my money this week (take that how you will) so I'd suggest putting your house on him as he'll probably end up winning by 10.
IAN POULTER
After nearly losing his playing status on the PGA tour last year to being back inside the top 30 players in the world is some going. Ryder Cup points will be on his mind I'm sure and it would be some achievement by Poults (Poults, like I know him) should he make that team to play in Paris. When the stakes are high he usually delivers and the thought of playing in another Ryder Cup could be the extra motivation he needs to finish on top come Sunday. The extra million to add a few more Ferraris to his collection could also be a motivation for him.
ANDY SULLIVAN
He's having a steady return to the form that he showed a couple of years back and I think he isn't far away from getting back into the winners circle....I've never actually seen a winners circle so I don't get that saying. Irrelevant information. He's had two top tens in his last two outings with the latter being a tied 3rd in Sicily. He's shown solid form at Wentworth, having made the cut the past four years and not finishing outside of the top 30. You can be sure he'll have plenty of support out there with them fellas with the smiley faces on their shirts. A confident player on home turf coming off the back of two top tens, sounds good to me. At 33/1 odds too I think Sulli is a good bet. When I say Sulli I mean Andy Sullivan, not the Sulli that landed the plane on the Hudson River. As great an act as that was, an ability to land a plane on water will not have any effect on your chances of winning the PGA at Wentworth. I'm not even sure if the guy plays golf.
ALEX NOREN
The defending champ, and one of the most consistent performers in the world is Alex. Blessed with an amazing short game and a great first name should be enough to make him a contender. His shot into 18 last year to set up his winning eagle and a final round of -10, 62 to win by two shows. He has the 'kahunas' to perform when it matters. I'd imagine a lot of pressure and commitments comes with being the defending champion so it'll be a different tournament for him than previous years, but I think he'll have no problem handling the pressure or attention.
NICOLAS COLSAERTS
The coolest of the lot. What a guy. If he was any more laid back he'd be horizontal. This idea of him being a good bet really isn't backed up by any real show of form, quite the opposite really but that's why he's an outsider. He did finish 7th in the Belgian knockout last week, but I don't know how much you can take from that given that it was a strange 9 hole knockout format. I think Nicolas likes this place though. He finished 3rd here last year and tied 22nd the two years previous. He's due a return to form and this could be the week he does that, as long as he doesn't fall asleep mid round! 80-1 odds sound pretty good to me. Go on the big Belge! I don't think that's his actual nickname but I like it, so that's what I'm calling him because this is my blog and I'll do what I want! Apologies, I'm getting aggressive.
I'm very much looking forward to this week, although I'm hoping come Sunday I'll be in some random bar in Kiev celebrating Liverpool's 8-0 victory over Real Madrid. Back to the golf though, it's a tough one to call and it's the type of week that really can either make someone's career or just add another mil to an already overflowing bank account. Either way, the weather and Wentworth both look set to be a scorcher 🌞 ☀️ 😎 (emojis just incase you don't understand words).
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