Ludvig Åberg holds a share of the lead after a weather-disrupted opening day at the BMW PGA Championship, as Rory McIlroy suffered a frustrating finish to his round at Wentworth.
Åberg recovered from an opening-hole bogey to post nine birdies in a first-round 64 and share top spot with France’s Tom Vaillant, who set the initial clubhouse target after six birdies in the last seven holes lifted him to eight under.
South Africa’s Casey Jarvis sits a stroke back in third and Matt Fitzpatrick is among those two off the pace, with Ryder Cup team-mates Viktor Hovland, Justin Rose and Shane Lowry all within three of the early lead after carding five-under 67s.
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Tyrrell Hatton holed an 85-foot birdie putt for an unlikely birdie on his way to an opening-round 69
Lowry was playing alongside McIlroy, who bogeyed the par-five last and carded a three-under 69, while Jon Rahm – completing that marquee threeball – birdied three of his last four holes to salvage a one-under 71.
The afternoon wave were disrupted by an 85-minute weather delay due to the threat of thunderstorms, leaving 30 players unable to complete their opening rounds before play was suspended just after 7.30pm due to darkness.
Mixed start for Europe’s Ryder Cup stars
Eleven of Europe’s 12-man Ryder Cup team are in action at the DP World Tour’s flagship event, ahead of facing Team USA at Bethpage Black later this month, with McIlroy headlining the field and looking to follow Sunday’s dramatic Amgen Irish Open success.
McIlroy chipped in from off the opening green and two-putted from 20 feet to add another birdie at the par-five fourth, then cancelled out a bogey at the par-three fifth by starting his back nine with a 12-foot birdie at the 10th.
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Rory McIlroy chipped in for birdie on the opening hole of the BMW PGA Championship
The world No 2 scrambled par at the next and responded to being frustrated by a poor chip into the par-five 12th by holing for birdie, with McIlroy looking set for a late push up the leaderboard after holing a 15-footer at the par-four 16th to move to four under.
McIlroy missed a five-foot birdie opportunity at the par-five 17th and then found the water with his approach into the par-five last, leading to him closing with a bogey – after failing to get up down – and dropping him back five behind.
Lowry upstaged his playing partner with a stunning finish, having been level par for the day until following three birdies in a four-hole stretch from the 12th by taking advantage of both closing par-fives to get to five under.
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Rasmus Hojgaard eagled the par-five 18th – despite blading his third shot – during an eventful finish to his opening round
Rahm was two over for his round when he drained a 35-footer to scramble an unlikely par at the 13th, after being involved in a lengthy discussion with a rules official, with the Spaniard then registering three consecutive birdies from the 15th to end a low-scoring opening day under par.
Robert MacIntyre joined Rahm on one under, with Tommy Fleetwood stuttering to a one-over 73 and Rasmus Hojgaard a further stroke back despite a birdie-eagle finish to his round. Hojgaard’s twin brother Nicolai sits joint-bottom of the leaderboard after carding a quadruple-bogey nine at the par-five 17th in his opening 78.
The second round will begin as scheduled at 6.40am on Friday, with the first round concluding from 7.45am.
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