Luke Donald will join Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington in seeking to win the BMW Championship – the PGA Championship – for the first time when he tees-up on the West Course at Wentworth Club, Surrey, England, on May 26-29.
Donald, aged 27, who followed his runners-up finish in The Players Championship on the US PGA Tour by being tied third behind Tiger Woods in the Masters Tournament two weeks ago, will be making his debut in the BMW Championship which carries a first prize of €666,660 from a record prize fund of €4,000,000.
Donald said: “I played the West Course a few times as an amateur as I grew up only a few miles away at High Wycombe, and so I am delighted to be returning for The European Tour’s flagship event. It will be good to be back in Britain, too, and I know my parents who still live locally will be looking forward to coming along.”
Donald, who won the Scandinavian Masters by Carlsberg and Omega European Masters on The 2004 European Tour International Schedule, joined a special club of only four British and Irish golfers to have played on winning Walker Cup and Ryder Cup Teams when he helped Europe beat the United States in Detroit last September. He followed that by partnering Paul Casey to victory for England in the World Golf Championships - World Cup.
“It has been a fabulous 12 months since I committed to Membership of The European Tour,” added Donald. “The BMW Championship is recognised by all the members as our own Championship so it would be very special to win the title. In fact I put the event on my schedule at The Ryder Cup where I told George O’Grady, The European Tour’s Executive Director, that I would definitely be playing at Wentworth.”
The corporate automotive brand BMW and The European Tour announced their new partnership in the BMW Championship in January and tickets for the 156-strong field, 72-hole stroke play event are available both online (www.ticketmaster.co.uk) and via the ticket hotline +44 (0)1782 742998. The phone lines will be open from 0900 to 1700 Monday to Friday.
