Big Name Brits Give BMW PGA Championship Much-Needed Boost

Rose, Fleetwood, Willett, Hatton and Fitzpatrick have all committed to the European Tour's Flagship Event

Big Name Brits Give BMW PGA Championship Much-Needed Boost

The European Tour and BMW PGA Championship received a huge boost after it was confirmed that both Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood are amongst the big names to have committed to this year's tournament.

As well as the aforementioned stars, defending champion Danny Willett, Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick have will also play at Wentworth next month.

Whilst the PGA Tour has thrived since the Covid-19 break, keeping huge fields and prize funds, it has been a slightly different story for the European Tour, which returned with its UK Swing.

The UK Swing went very well but purses were dwarfed by its American counterpart and the big names remained Stateside.

However, the European Tour's Flagship Event at Wentworth looks set to be well-supported despite the lack of fans and a new October date.

It seems as if both Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm will remain in the States and the big-name Americans may also give it a miss due to Covid-19, but the news of Rose, Fleetwood, Willett, Hatton and Fitzpatrick's attendance is a great sign for the tour.

Wentworth is always one of the best weeks of the year and this time around things will be slightly different without the 100,000+ fans the event usually draws in.

It will be the third Rolex Series tournament of 2020 after the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January and the Scottish Open, which takes place the week before the BMW PGA.

The purse looks set to be a huge $7m according to the tour's website.

The event will take place from 8-11th October.

Danny Willett will look to defend the title he won last year in superb fashion where he held off Jon Rahm in a thrilling final day battle.

Rose will be looking to win the event for the first time in his career, which is played just up the road from where he grew up in Fleet.

Fleetwood, Hatton and Fitzpatrick will also be looking to win the title for the first time.

Willett said: “I cannot wait to defend my BMW PGA Championship title. It was such a special win for me on home soil, particularly beating a player of the quality of Jon Rahm and in the manner that I did it.

“Obviously it will be a little different this year without fans but I know Wentworth will be in superb condition and hopefully we can put on a good show for the fans watching on television.”

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