Latest news with #BMWPGA
Daily Record
30-06-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Record
Lando Norris added to star-studded Wentworth line up for BMW PGA Championship
F1 hero returning to play at this year's BMW PGA pro-am at Wentworth Grand Prix hero Lando Norris is swapping the steering wheel for golf clubs as he returns to the BMW PGA Championship. The F1 icon will join the likes of Sir Andy Murray and cricket hero Ben Stokes to team-up with golf heroes such as Rory McIlroy and Bob MacIntyre in Sepetmber. Norris and McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown will swap the track for fairways when they tee it up in the BMW PGA Championship Celebrity Pro-Am. Tennis icon Andy Murray, England Men's Test Captain Stokes and former England and Chelsea captain John Terry in the Pro-Am field for what promises to be a star-studded line-up of celebrities from the worlds of sports, music and entertainment. Norris played in the event three years ago and is now returning having partnered Ryder Cup hero Tyrrell Hatton in 2022, while Brown will tee it up in the star-studded event for the first time. Darell O'Hora, Championship Director of the BMW PGA Championship, said: 'We're absolutely thrilled to welcome Lando Norris back to the. He's one of Britain's brightest young sports stars and will bring great energy to the event. 'It's also a real pleasure to have Zak Brown joining us for the first time and our thanks go to our partners DP World for inviting them to play this year. "With the line-up for both the Celebrity Pro-Am and the BMW PGA Championship really coming together, the buzz is building and we can't wait for what promises to be a fantastic day out for the whole family.' Norris has continued to establish his credentials as one of the leading stars in F1, winning three times so far in 2025, most recently at last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix. He was also victorious at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and the historic Monaco Grand Prix and has recording six further podium finishes this year. Murray reckons he went numb when having an outing last year as he played alongside countryman MacIntyre in Surrey. He said: 'I couldn't really feel my arms and legs. It was good. A brilliant experience for me. "To be out there with one of the best in the world for me, it was brilliant. I was pretty nervous. "I couldn't really feel my arms and legs. I didn't really hit any balls on the range beforehand. "Yeah, I was feeling it. But it got better. It got better as the round went on. It's a different sort of nerves from Wimbledon because you are comfortable in the tennis environment. 'I'm not thinking I'm going to walk out on the tennis court and forget how to hit the ball. "You just, you want to perform well. Whereas here, you're sort of nervous. "There's people standing like five metres away from where I'm driving and I'm like: I'm useless at this game! "You just want to try and keep the ball in play and don't mess up too much.'
Irish Independent
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
‘You just have to keep knocking on the door' – Shane Lowry patiently waiting ‘for good days to come'
But the new world No 10 has hauled himself off the canvas, and he's confident that a big week is just around the corner. While a soggy Quail Hollow might not be the scene of his next win, he's ready to come out swinging again in this week's PGA Championship. 'Look, I'll be completely honest with you,' said Lowry, who has broken 70 just twice in 28 rounds at Quail Hollow. 'I wish we were at a venue that suits my game a little bit better. 'But I do feel like if I play my best golf, I can contend, but it'll be hard, and I will have to play my best golf this week. But you know, that's great, because I am actually playing some of my best golf around now. 'So I'll give it a run and see what happens. And if it's not this week, sure, I'll dust myself off and I get ready for Memorial, and if it's not that week, I'll just keep going.' Lowry's last individual win came in the 2022 BMW PGA, and while he's come up just short in some of the game's biggest events since then, his competitive spirit is intact. 'Look, Sunday hurt a bit,' said Lowry, whose runner-up finish in Philadelphia was his second this year. 'I felt like I probably could have won that tournament. I should have won that tournament. And it's hard to win out here. So when you give yourself chances like that, it stings. 'I was conscious coming into a big week like this, where you're not feeling great about yourself because of that. So it was actually nice that it was a forced day off on Monday with the weather. 'So I don't feel anything but positive energy coming from last week, and hopefully I can get out tomorrow morning early and get after it.' Quail Hollow is playing so long, Lowry knows he needs an inspired performance. 'I have no record around here at all,' he said. ADVERTISEMENT 'But I've taken a little bit of a dive into the stats on why that is, and it's nothing to do with my tee-to-green play. It's more the rest of it. 'It suits a certain type of player. So I'm going to have to play my best even to get in or around the lead on the weekend. 'But thankfully, my best golf has come out over the last while, and I feel like I'm hitting the ball well, happy with what I'm doing in and around the greens, so you never know.' Lowry insists he is confident that a victory is close. 'You just have to keep knocking on the door,' he said. 'And eventually, the next chance I get, I'm just gonna try and burst through it. 'Sometimes you feel like golf keeps kicking you and kicking you, but you have to be patient, and you have to wait for the good days to come. 'Hopefully there's a great day ahead of me at some stage in the next to near future.'
Reuters
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
New Zealander Fox makes his mark stateside on Mother's Day at Myrtle Beach
May 11 (Reuters) - New Zealander Ryan Fox sealed his first U.S. PGA Tour title in spectacular fashion on Sunday with a 50-foot chip-in from the fringe of the green to win the Myrtle Beach Classic and give his wife the perfect Mother's Day gift. Fox celebrated with his wife, Anneke Ryff, and two young daughters after the stunning birdie chip won him a three-way playoff against Mackenzie Hughes and Harry Higgs and earned him a spot at the PGA Championship, which starts on Thursday. "It's Mother's Day today," Fox told reporters. "So my wife sort of joked on Friday when I said, 'What can I get you for Mother's Day?' And she goes, 'Well, a trophy would be nice'. So I guess I lived up to my end of the bargain there. "To have the wife and kids here is amazing." With a father who played 46 times for the All Blacks and helped bring the inaugural World Cup to rugby-mad New Zealand, Fox was always going to have to produce something special in his golf career to shed the "son of" tag. After claiming the prestigious BMW PGA Championship title in 2023 for his fourth win on the European Tour, he packed up his young family to try his luck in the United States. "I haven't transitioned probably as well as I would have liked over the PGA Tour," the 38-year-old said. "It was tough last year, I managed to just keep my card, and it's been a scratchy start this year as well. "I always, deep down, felt like I could compete with the guys out here, I just haven't been able to put it together. And I was very happy to do it this week." After signing for a final round five-under-par 66, Fox earned his spot in the playoff when Hughes blew a one-stroke lead with a bogey at the 18th and Higgs was only able to par the last. "I don't want to be pessimistic, but you kind of figure someone's going to hole a putt on the last, that's what normally happens," Fox said. "I kind of said to my caddie, regardless of what happens, I did all I could control really well out there. I was very chuffed to get another chance." Fox also earned a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and is hoping that certainty over his future will help kickstart his career stateside. "In this game, you don't get to win very often. You don't get job security very often either," he concluded. "So it's certainly nice to have that. And at the back of my mind, can feel like for the rest of the year, I can freewheel it a little bit. Hopefully that takes some pressure off. "We'll see how it goes in the next few weeks. But yeah, it's feels like a monkey off my back, that's for sure."
NBC Sports
11-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Former Ryder Cupper, who went 'through hell,' emotional as he records first DPWT top-10 in 7 years
Could Chris Wood's nightmare finally be over? The 37-year-old Wood, a former European Ryder Cupper and top-25 player in the world, has spent the last six years battling not only anxiety and burnout but also the frustrating golf results that come from it. He's lost all status, relegated now to being at the mercy of sponsor invites. That's how he managed his way into this week's Turkish Airlines Open, just his second DP World Tour start of the year following a missed cut in Qatar. Wood hadn't made a cut on this circuit in nearly three years. His last top-10 finish came at the 2018 KLM Open, where he posted his last of three runner-up showings that season. He hasn't won since capturing his third DPWT title, at the 2016 BMW PGA, which came just a few months before he qualified for his first – and still only – Ryder Cup. He plummeted outside the top 2,000 in the Official World Golf Ranking two years ago and entered this week still at just No. 1,472. 'It's been horrendous to be honest,' Wood said. 'It's been – since 2019 really – I just feel like I've been going through hell.' But alas, a few shots of hope: Not only did Wood make the weekend at Regnum Carya in Antalya, but he closed in a dazzling 7-under 64 on Sunday to tie for seventh, ending his top-10 drought as well. 'I want to feel like I know my game's there, not just put a score on one day, and I genuinely feel like I'm starting to do that now,' Wood said. 'I've been working so hard at home just quietly with a great team. and it's been a long, old road to be honest.' "I feel like I've been going through hell." A lot to be proud of this week, Chris.#TurkishAirlinesOpen While his mental struggles have been forefront, Wood also has dealt with serious neck and back injuries. He described a few years back how an 'unplayable swing' had crept in during his successful run before his game completely fell apart in 2019, the same year that he walked off the course during a tournament in Morocco because he couldn't take the stress anymore and was berated by the tournament official; he'd take 10 weeks off after that. He lost his DPWT card three years ago. He then played on the Challenge Tour last year before losing that card, too. He's has kept one thing, though. 'I never lost belief in myself,' Wood said. 'You obviously have days where it feels harder than some. The fire in my belly has always been there. I'm relying on invites this year. I'm ready. I'm practicing so well at home that a call last minute is not a problem. I'm ready to go. I played with Oli[ver] Wilson the first couple of days, and he asked how I'm doing it, how I'm practicing at home to be match ready – they're my secrets. The Tour have been good. The medical team have really helped me. 'Hopefully this is a first little step forward, and anyone who wants me at their event, please pick up the phone because I need a few starts this year.' You heard the man.
The Independent
11-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Chris Wood comes through ‘hell' to secure first DP World Tour top ten in eight years
England's Chris Wood said he felt like he "had been going through hell" after a closing 64 at the Turkish Airlines Open saw him record a first DP World Tour top-10 finish since 2018. Wood won three titles between 2013 and 2016, including the prestigious BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, and was part of Europe's Ryder Cup team at Hazeltine under Darren Clarke. However, chronic anxiety and burnout led to a dramatic drop in his form from 2019, with his last top-10 coming at the 2018 KLM Open. "It's been horrendous, to be honest," said Wood, who was playing on a sponsor's invitation after losing his card and whose 11-under total gave him a share of seventh, six shots behind rookie winner Martin Couvra. "It's been - since 2019 really - I just feel like I've been going through hell so to put a score together today is obviously great. "I want to feel like I know my game's there, not just put a score on one day, and I genuinely feel like I'm starting to do that now. "I've been working so hard at home just quietly with a great team and it's been a long old road, to be honest. "I never lost belief in myself - you obviously have days where it feels harder than some. "The fire in my belly has always been there. I'm relying on invites this year. I'm ready - I'm practising so well at home that a call last minute is not a problem, I'm ready to go. "Hopefully this is a first little step forward and anyone who wants me at their event, please pick up the phone because I need a few starts this year." Couvra had led at the halfway stage but a third-round 72 left him four shots off the pace going into the final round. However, the 22-year-old Frenchman produced a superb 64 to finish two shots clear of Spain's Jorge Campillo and China's Li Haotong. "It was amazing to win on my first year on the DP World Tour - it's just a dream," said Couvra.
