Matteo Manassero will launch his defence of the BMW PGA Championship around lunchtime on Thursday in the company of the reigning US Open Champion Justin Rose and former World Number One Lee Westwood.
The European Tour’s flagship event is packed with class but it is perhaps the 12.50 tee-time that takes top billing with Manassero, seeking back-to-back titles, Rose, playing his first event on home soil as US Open Champion, and Westwood, one of Europe’s greatest champions hitting his stride nicely with his recent win in Malaysia.
Wentworth Club’s own Seve Benson will hit the opening tee shot at 7.00am when he takes to the famous West Course he knows so well with Mark Foster and Hennie Otto and it is not long before some of the European Tour’s biggest attractions follow them out.
European Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley will cast a watchful eye over two of Europe’s most exciting talents – Thorbjorn Olesen and Alexander Levy – at 7.50am, just ahead of the first two of ten Major Champions in the field with Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington, playing with Thongchai Jaidee.
Race to Dubai Number One Thomas Björn is another early starter at 8.15am with Stephen Gallacher and Retief Goosen, closely followed by the sensational Miguel Angel Jiménez, who last Sunday broke his own record as the oldest winner in Tour history with his Open de España triumph, fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia and in-form Martin Kaymer, recent winner of the Players Championship in America.
Two-time BMW PGA Champion Luke Donald, winner in 2011 and 2012, begins his bid for a third title in four years at 8.35am alongside the reigning European Number One Henrik Stenson and former Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel at 8.35am.
And so the class continues throughout the morning until the lunchtime rush. At 12.40 Jonas Blixt, runner-up at the Masters Tournament, and Ryder Cup team-mates Ian Poulter and Francesco Molinari get underway. Rose, Westwood and Manassero follow ten minutes later and then comes Jamie Donaldson, course-designer Ernie Els and Rory McIlroy, the latter pair with six Majors between them.
Course-record holder Robert Karlsson, who shot 62 in 2010, will get his 500th European Tour event underway at 13.35 on Thursday alongside two former champions in David Howell and José María Olazábal.
The 150-strong field, with its liberal sprinkling of ten Major Champions, ten European Number Ones, eight former champions, 26 Ryder Cup players and 99 European Tour champions, will continue to roll out until the last grouping at 15.40 when Victor Riu, Jamie McLeary and Shiv Kapur bring up the rear.
All of which adds up to what promises to be a classic opening day of the 60th playing of the PGA Championship.
