BMW PGA Championship 2025 FRL Tips: Rose to bloom early at Wentworth?

The BMW PGA Championship begins at Wentworth on Thursday and with some inclement weather on the way, one section of the draw looks to have the advantage in round one.

With that, Jamie Worsley has three selections he likes in tomorrow’s first-round leader market, including a Ryder Cup legend...

You can read Jamie's full BMW PGA Championship Betting Tips main preview here. 

This tournament uses a single-tee start, which means there are no distinct morning and afternoon waves, with all players teeing off from the first tee in 10 or 15-minute intervals.

That said, we can still focus on specific parts of the draw and with wet and windier conditions forecast to arrive (and stick around) from 13:00 onwards, those out in the morning should be favoured.

I would especially look at players who tee off before 09:05 to crack this first-round leader market, as they’re likely to play most, if not all of their opening round before the rain arrives.

1 pt Justin Rose each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 50/1

Start time: 08:35

I have three selections who are among the first 12 groups out tomorrow, starting with Justin Rose. The Englishman was in excellent form at the end of the PGA Tour regular season and as a player who has many fast starts under his belt at Wentworth, I expect him to be one of the early frontrunners.

Rose struggled for form after his runner-up finish to Rory at Augusta, but he returned from a month-long break in better shape in Scotland five starts ago, finishing 6^th. He followed that with a 16^th-place finish in The Open and then recorded the 12^th PGA Tour win of his career in the St. Jude Championship.

He’s hitting his irons better than at any point this season at present, ranking 2^nd in approach over the last two months. His first-round performances have also improved over this time, sitting inside the top 25 on day one in each of his last four starts, including shooting a six-under 64 to occupy 3^rd place thru 18 holes of the St Jude.

Rose has twice finished 2^nd at Wentworth – in 2007 and 2012 – and continues to stack up strong performances. He shared the first-round lead here back in 2007 and has continued to begin positively, finishing round one in the top five in 2019 and 2021.

BMW PGA Championship Odds 

1 pt Angel Ayora each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 60/1

Start time: 06:50

Angel Ayora is a player destined for the top of the game. Whilst a win on his Wentworth debut may be just beyond him at this stage, he’s one of the best first-round performers in this field. Likely to commence his week in the kindest of the conditions, he can make a fast start tomorrow.

Ayora continued his impressive form last week, following finishes of 13^th in the British Masters and 8^th in the European Masters, with a 5^th-place finish in the Irish Open.

He’s one of the strongest drivers in this group of players, ranking 6^th over the last three months, and he is also in the top 20 from tee-to-green. Meanwhile, he ranks 6^th in first-round performance during the same period – recording seven first-round top-25s in his last 10.

Ayora’s standout performance in this regard came in the correlating Soudal Open, where he shot a six-under 65 to share the first-round lead. I have every confidence that he can replicate that effort from his early start time this week.

0.75 pts Haotong Li each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 70/1

Start time: 07:10

Haotong Li has had three first-round leads this season, two of which have come in his previous five outings. I’m taking him to bounce back from a disappointing missed cut at the K Club and top the leaderboard on day one at Wentworth.

Haotong began the season in fantastic form, recording four top-five finishes (and eight top 25s) across his first 11 starts, including a victory in the Qatar Masters. He suffered a drop in form thereafter but sprung into life with an excellent 4^th-place finish at The Open. Before he missed the cut in Ireland he’d finished 8^th in the British Masters and 24^th in the European Masters on his two previous starts.

The Chinese star has hit the ball beautifully all season, ranking 1^st in approach, 10^th in greens-in-regulation and 23^rd off-the-tee on the DP World Tour. He’d also been putting strongly prior to his last three starts and encouragingly for this week, he ranks 20^th in this field for his first-round performances.

He recorded his first round-one lead in the Hainan Classic back in April, opening with a six-under 66. His next one came at The Open courtesy of a four-under 67 and his latest happened just three starts ago at The Belfry, with another six-under 66 doing the damage.

Li has struggled at Wentworth in recent years, missing every cut since and including 2020. However, he did make four of his first five at the course and currently playing at a similar level to what he was in 2019, he can take major strides towards ending that run of missed cuts by getting off to a fast start on Thursday.

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