The Rolex Series returns this week for the 2021 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, and a good week at the Surrey venue offers up more rewards than just one of the most coveted European Tour titles.
With the 2020 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits taking place at the end of September, the 2021 BMW PGA Championship marks the last chance for players to automatically qualify or make a final impression on Captain Padraig Harrington.
The end of the tournament will confirm the nine automatic qualifiers, and will also see Harrington name his three Captain's picks, which will take place following the conclusion of the event on Sunday evening.
Harrington welcomed the first five members of the Ryder Cup Europe side to automatically qualify on Tuesday, but the door is still ajar for those currently in and outside of the automatic spots that are hoping to join the confirmed Team of Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland and Paul Casey.
Unsurprisingly, qualification is on the minds of many players hopeful of making their way to the United States to defend the trophy won at Le Golf National in 2018.
🚨 CONFIRMED 🚨@padraig_h's first five players heading to Whistling Straits.#TeamEurope
— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 7, 2021
This week's defending champion Tyrrell Hatton is all but confirmed for the team, and currently sits in third position on the European Points List and fifth on the World's Points List. He has the strongest chance of automatic qualification, and Harrington revealed that a lot of things would have to happen for him to be knocked out of a qualifying spot.
"I'm told Tyrrell Hatton is not 100 per cent, if you if he's not in on Sunday, so many things must have happened that it won't be -- it would be something strange," Harrington said. "So he's virtually there and Matt Fitzpatrick is virtually there and Lee (Westwood) is right up there, as well, would be very unusual."
Speaking about it, Hatton said he was surprised but understanding, and that it doesn't change anything about how he approaches the week.
“Paddy told me, it was a touch surprising,” said Hatton, who memorably captured his third Rolex Series title here last year and was part of the winning European Ryder Cup side in Paris.
"It's something like 99.99 per cent in but I think the best thing is -- it's not guaranteed and it saves any awkward stuff on social media I guess if that was to go out and someone was to point out, if this situation happened.
“So yeah, obviously not guaranteed but that doesn't change anything going into this week. Yeah, there's a lot of points up for grabs and hopefully I can have a strong week."
He's hoping to draw on memories of last year's triumph, where he won by four shots.
“Yeah, it's obviously good memories coming back here. To be honest I only live sort of 25, 35 minutes away anyway. Been lucky enough to play here numerous times when I've been back here in the U.K. to the point where it almost feels a bit like a second home course.
“I feel pretty comfortable out there, and hopefully I can have a good week this week. I know my form's not been that great for the last sort of three or four months maybe. But hopefully I can find something this week that if I make the Ryder Cup team, certainly hopefully I can help the team out.”
Matt Fitzpatrick currently sits in sixth position on both lists, and currently qualifies through the third spot on the World Points List. The Englishman has also almost guaranteed automatic qualification, so he's aware that it's very much in his hands.
“Obviously the good thing is it's in my hands, so I know if I go out and play well this week, there's nothing to worry about,” said Fitzpatrick, who represented Europe in 2016.
“Just purely concentrate on my own game and not worried about anything else or anyone else and how they are doing. It's just if I go out and play well, there's not going to be a problem.
“It would be fantastic. It really would. I've got a lot of time with Pádraig and he's been with me throughout the whole process. So to be on his team and hopefully go over there, do well, it would mean a lot.”
Shane Lowry currently sits in the ninth qualifying position after Lee Westwood following a consistent run of form to displace Bernd Wiesberger, and according to statistics has a good chance of keeping that spot.
The 2019 Open Champion is well aware there are plenty of players trying to chase him down for that final position, but he knows he has a great opportunity to make the side he’s been trying to get on for the last six years.
“Yeah, look, obviously I'm here and probably a few people gunning for me this week but I'm in a great position,” said Lowry.
“I've worked very hard this year to get there. I've spent definitely the last five, six years trying to make a Ryder Cup Team. So I feel like I've got a great opportunity this week and looking forward to going out and trying to do it.
“Like I feel like I've played some really good golf over the last while and my form is good, so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Go back to the old golf clichés, I can only look after myself and one shot at a time and all that stuff, and try to shoot the best scores I can and have the best week I can. If there's a week that I'm coming to try and perform, Wentworth is one of the places I like to play. So hopefully I can go out and perform well this week.”
Sitting at fifth on the European Points List and two places below at 11th on the World Points List is Bernd Wiesberger, who is one of several players hoping to make it into the Team for the very first time this week.
Wiesberger was recently overtaken in the standings by Shane Lowry and has a chance to regain his place in the team with a strong finish this week, but it’s one he’s trying not to think about.
“I feel good. I am really looking forward to what is now the last week of qualification. Lots of guys in the vicinity of directly qualifying and trying to give Paddy a little extra incentive for if they are playing well.
“But at the end of the day, I'm here to play for a BMW PGA Championship, 72-hole tournament and that's the main focus right now. That's what I want to be 100 per cent committed and dedicated to, and however it pans out at the end of the week or early next week, as long as I can do the best and enjoy this week, I'll see how it pans out for The Ryder Cup And yes, I would love to be part of The European Team, but it would be foolish to make it too big of an issue with seven days to go, you know. There's other things that I need to be aware about and focus on, and if I do my job well as I know I can in a great tournament and with a really strong field, I know I can be competitive in a week like this and if I take care of that, the rest takes care of itself.
“It's 72 holes of golf and at the end of the day, I want to give every golf shot as much attention, as much focus and as much determination as I can and if I can do that over those four days of golf, regardless the outcome, we'll see what happens. I'm not starting to look at rankings or possibilities of what needs to be done this year"
Other players, like Ryder Cup stalwart Henrik Stenson, are vying for one of Harrington’s three Captain’s picks.
And although he isn’t keeping his hopes too high, the Swede has come into form at the perfect time for the Ryder Cup, with two top fives and a tie for 15th in his last three starts on the European Tour.
“I wouldn't keep my high hopes up,” said Stenson, but he did concede there are a lot of factors that could come in to play this week.
“I think some of the spots are heading in certain directions, and there's a lot of things that can happen here this last week, players that can jump past each other and push each other out from certain lists and that might influence kind of the setup of the team, as well."
“We'll see. There might still be something to play for. A win here might change some minds, who knows, but I'm just going to go about this tournament like I would normally and try and prepare well and go out and do my job and we'll see where it takes us. It has been nice to be in contention a few weeks as of late and play a little bit better, but we still haven't been quite where we want to be or need to be.
“Hopefully the work that we do will keep trending in the right direction and we can have a strong finish on this little European Tour I've been on, four weeks in Europe. I think it's been probably ten years ago since I did that. It's been fun.”
