One year on from his agonising runner-up finish in the competition, Rory McIlroy will be back among the field at the 2023 BMW PGA Championship.
A 2014 winner at Wentworth, the world No. 2 will seek to add his second title in Surrey ahead of this year's Ryder Cup. McIlroy confirmed his intention to play the tournament almost a decade after clinching its crown, just a fortnight before the Ryder Cup gets underway in Italy.
"I always love playing at the BMW PGA Championship, and I've had some great results and performances round the West Course in the past," said the 33-year-old. "I started 2023 with a win in Dubai, and Wentworth is a place where I would like to add another title."
McIlroy bested Irish rival and friend Shane Lowry by a single stroke to lift the trophy nine years ago. As fate would have it, Lowry returned the favour in identical fashion last year, beating McIlroy (and Jon Rahm ) by the smallest of margins to finally get his hands on the grand prize.
It's all but certain both players will be a part of Team Europe's efforts to crush their guests when Team USA visits Rome between September 29 and October 1. Three decades have passed since the Americans last triumphed on European soil (when England hosted in 1993), however, and golf 's ongoing civil war may complicate selection.
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A win at the BMW PGA Championship could be the perfect morale boost ahead of the inter-continental clash, not that McIlroy has much cause to be lacking in the first place. The Northern Irishman also finished second to Francesco Molinari in the 2018 edition of the tournament, finishing among the top 10 of the BMW on five occasions overall.
It so happens that 2014 was a particularly prolific year for McIlroy, who just so happened to seal the two most recent of his four total majors in the same span that produced his win at Wentworth. However, he'll hope to return to the venue as a career grand slam champion, targeting more major success at next month's Masters.
A Green Jacket has long been the only piece of major heritage missing from the superstar's list of achievements, having won each of the other three major tournaments on at least one occasion. He's also contested all six editions of the Ryder Cup held since 2010 and helped Europe emerge on the winning side in four of those.
His BMW PGA Championship win of 2014 happened to precede one such triumph, and he'll be hopeful of replicating a similar streak of success come September. Lowry, 35, said he "can't wait to get back to Wentworth as defending champion" and hopes to become the first player to win back-to-back titles since Colin Montgomerie claimed three consecutive BMW gongs between 1998 and 2000.
