Take one look at his record at the BMW PGA Championship and you’d be forgiven for being surprised to see Matthew Baldwin in the lead – but perhaps even more so when you learn he was once an Amazon driver.
The 38-year-old Englishman is making his sixth appearance at the prestigious DP World Tour event, having made the cut on just one previous occasion. And that came last season, seven years on from his last appearance in 2016.
It’s hardly an illustrious record. But that is there to be improved upon, something he is on track to do with aplomb this week.
After opening with a flawless seven-under-par 65 on Thursday to hold a one-shot lead, Baldwin backed it up with a 66 in Friday's weather-affected second round to be clear at the top in the clubhouse as the halfway stage approached.
Not only that, his 13 under par total for his first two rounds equals the tournament record set by Paul McGinley in 2008.
Here, we fill you in on the surprise standout at the third Rolex Series event of the season.
The Fleetwood connection
Born in Southport, Lancashire, Baldwin is a product of Park Golf Club, just like Tommy Fleetwood and fellow DP World Tour winner Lee Slattery. His junior career was marked by two notable victories in 2004: the European Boys’ Team Championship, where he represented England, and the Jacques Léglise Trophy, representing Great Britain & Ireland. Baldwin played alongside Fleetwood – five years his junior – as his Lancashire foursomes partner for a couple of years, with the pair enjoying success together. Not only that, but the pair also went on to graduate from the European Challenge Tour in 2011. “I don’t think we ever lost,” said Baldwin of his partnership with his more celebrated countryman. “We played a lot of golf growing up, graduated the same year from Challenge Tour and obviously played a little bit out here. Our paths have gone slightly different but hopefully I can catch him up.”
I don’t think we ever lost - Baldwin on playing alongside Tommy Fleetwood for his county as a junior
Strong start to life on Tour followed by setbacks
Having turned professional in 2008, Baldwin would have to wait until 2012 for his maiden campaign with full playing privileges on the DP World Tour. But he would make up for lost time, by making the cut on both his U.S. Open and Open Championship debuts that same year. He comfortably retained his card in his opening three seasons, qualifying for the DP World Tour Championship in 2014, the same season he claimed his best finish of second at the Nelson Mandela Championship presented by ISPS HANDA. Injuries took their toll in 2015, and by 2016 he had lost his card. He was back on Tour for the 2018 season after coming through the Qualifying School and would have been back in 2021 via the Challenge Tour but missed out after the categories were frozen due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Emotional triumph in milestone start
But it wasn’t long before he was back on the DP World Tour, as a 19th-placed finish on the Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca Rankings in 2022 earned him promotion. And, in his seventh full season on Tour, he celebrated his 200th DP World Tour start in style by winning the SDC Championship at St. Francis Links in South Africa in March 2023. Dedicating his victory - after an 11-year journey to the winner's circle - to his late stepfather, Baldwin said: "It’s been a tough 12 months. My stepdad died last May, and this is for him." With one further top ten at the ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics in Northern Ireland, he would finish 69th on the season-long standings.
His stint as a delivery driver
And yet that high might never have materialised. At times, he has considered quitting the game, including prior to the 2022 Challenge Tour season which led to his return to the DP World Tour. “I had three or four months working at Amazon driving a van just to see me through the winter before the Challenge Tour started in 2022,” he told reporters at Wentworth. “I learned a lot from that. I learned that there are other things that I could do in life, but I also learned that I really wanted to play golf.” After all, this was a sport in hich he had shown resilience in abundance – emphasised by his regular visits to the Qualifying School. Among many humorous tales as a delivery driver – a job fellow DP World Tour member Joe Dean also turned too at a time of need – one stands out. “I remember pulling up to a block of flats, jumped out the van, got in the back and all of a sudden I feel like I’m moving and I’m like ‘oh no, I forgot to put the handbrake on’. So I’ve ran out the back, ran around the side, yanked the handbrake up, still wouldn’t stop, yanked it more, it eventually stopped about this far short (inches) of a blue Fiesta."
Coming to form at the right time
With his exemption from his victory at the SDC Championship coming to an end at the end of this season, time was of the essence if Baldwin was to retain his card for 2025 only last week. After a run of four missed cuts in five starts earlier this summer, he arrived at the Amgen Irish Open ranked 107th on the Race to Dubai, just inside the top-114 provisional cut off for retention of DP World Tour membership. But after finishing tied 30th at Royal County Down to climb eight places, and with big points on offer this week, things are only looking up again. In fact, a strong result over the weekend will have him thinking of contesting the DP World Tour Play-Offs in the Middle East in November. Or, even better, he could be on the cusp of a maiden Rolex Series title on home soil. Only time will tell.
