Aaron Rai & Joakim Lagergren Lead BMW PGA Championship After Blustery Round One

PGA Champion Aaron Rai and Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren handled the blustery conditions at Wentworth beautifully, both carding excellent six-under-par 66s to secure a share of the first-round lead at the BMW PGA Championship.

After a wet warm-up on the range, the rain cleared away for their round. Rai was pleased with his day’s work, which included seven birdies and a single dropped shot on the 16th. “Really pleased overall. Conditions were pretty tricky. We had a lot of rain during that warm-up. I felt like I got into the round fast and got a couple birdies early on and continued to just play well throughout the round and keep the momentum going when I was out of position. So, yeah, really good. Really good start.”

On the other hand, Lagergren, who is 69th in the Race to Dubai, was not as happy with his round. Despite five birdies, an eagle and a solitary dropped shot on the 9th, he felt he had more to give. “I feel like I wasn’t at my best today, if that’s okay to say after a minus six, but I feel like I have still work to do,” said the Swede.

Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy endured a late stumble after an explosive start. Starting his day on the 9th hole, McIlroy surged up the leaderboard with five front-nine birdies before dropping shots on the 3rd, 6th, and his final hole—the 8th—where he found the water. He signed for a three-under 69, leaving him in a tie for 19th heading into Friday.

“Yeah, good way to put it, a stumble home. There was a lot of good stuff in there, 5-under through 10. The wind is gusty out there and really any time the wind picks up, especially around Wentworth, it funnels into the trees.”

“You can start to get, not wind switches, but it just gets a bit blustery, and the ball can certainly get moved around a little bit in the air. So, yeah, I wish I was standing here a couple of shots better. That’s what I feel I should be, but overall, I saw some good signs in my game and saw some putts go in which was encouraging compared to last week. Definitely a score to build on as the week goes on.”

Photo: Co-leaders Rai & Lagergren (Photos by Gerry Ruddy).

For first round scores click here.