As the DP World Tour’s Rolex Series resumes with the prestigious BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, past champion Tony Johnstone writes our Commentator’s Column.
I have been coming to Wentworth Club for the past five decades. Having lived in Sunningdale for so long, I have built an attachment with the place as if it was a home club. When I first played the then PGA Championship on the West Course in 1984, it was just too long for me. The competition was held in May, when it was wet. I was going into a lot of holes with three and four irons. Other guys were hitting six irons. I thought, ‘jeez, I can never win around here’.
So, to win at Wentworth in 1992 was life-changing. I’d lost in a play-off to Peter Senior the week before at the Benson & Hedges International Open at St. Mellion, so I knew I was playing really well. My forte was accuracy, and after a dry period of weather, we had long rough and bone hard fairways. As a result, the course played a lot shorter. I said to my brother-in-law, who was caddying for me, that this was the first time I'd ever felt that the course is made for my game, and I could win. Low and behold I went on to do it. I could hit a one iron on a lot of holes and it was going as far as guys’ drivers. I hardly missed a fairway all week. The greens were firm, so everybody was missing greens. It came down to short game, so it just played right into my hands. I picked the moment and grabbed it.
I never got on the first tee of a tournament ever in my career and knew what the total purse was or what the prize money was for a win. I came to compete and I just wanted titles and trophies. So, it was a very pleasant experience winning and finding out how I had won £100,000. The 10-year exemption was huge, it was something I'd forgotten came with the win. The victory was a huge platform in my career.
Of course, the West Course has undergone renovations since then. While the first iteration may not have been a success, Ernie Els has since done a great job. It's a different proposition, even if the routing is the same, especially with how they've redone the greens. I can remember the third hole when we first played here, and there was a small green and it had literally a five-foot tier in the middle of the green. If you were on the top tier and overhit your putt, you ended up 50 yards down the fairway.
One thing that hasn't changed over the years is how the West Course always requires great course management. The way the guys hit the ball these days, this is not considered a particularly long course. There are tricky holes out there. I don't care who you are, the tee shot at 17 scares the hell out of you, with out of bounds down the left and the fairway sloping from left to right. You'll often find experience proves pivotal. You’ve got to know when and when not to be aggressive. As with any great course, all facets of your game need to be tested and this course does that.
Thanks in part to the great history of the PGA Championship and the World Match Play Championship, Wentworth is world renowned. It has always tended to produce great champions. You very rarely get what might be perceived as a fluke winner.
Outside of The Open Championship, for most players on the DP World Tour the next most important tournament is their national open, as it should be. After that, the BMW PGA Championship is the flagship event. If you want to win a Rolex event on our side of the pond, there's no question this is the one that you want under your belt.
There are certain titles in my career that will forever hold a special place to me. Due to its importance and what it meant for my career, Wentworth is among those. My very first win as a professional was the South African Open in 1984. Obviously coming from that part of the world, to us it felt like winning a Major. But I would say that the Jersey Open as a senior is also right up there. I’d been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, told I'd never play golf again and managed to get out onto the seniors tour and win an event. I've never been so scared in my life over a one-foot putt on the last hole.
But back to this week. There is not one player in the field who wouldn’t dearly love to win this event. One player who has really impressed me this season and would be a great story if he was to win would be Matteo Manassero. He has been through hell and back. The strength of mind he has shown is so impressive. Now he is back on the DP World Tour, found a way to win a tournament and has enjoyed a number of strong results. He's won here and I think that would be the final accolade for him on his comeback story if he could win again at Wentworth. Between his win in 2013 and now, it would be the cherry on the cake. Yes, you've got the usual suspects but I would love to see it happen. I mean, I think Rory McIlroy will be really difficult to beat this week because he is resilient. Last week will have seriously hurt. And nobody will want to win this more than Rory.
