Former Masters champion Danny Willett is set to be sidelined for six months by the shoulder injury which ruined his bid for a second BMW PGA Championship title.

The PA news agency understands that Willett will undergo surgery next week and hopes to be back in action in time for the first major of 2024 at Augusta National, where he won a Green Jacket in 2016.

Willett looked set to challenge for the the lead on day one at Wentworth when he covered his first 12 holes in six under par, only to aggravate a shoulder tear after hitting his tee shot on the 15th.

That led to a double bogey and the 2019 winner dropped three more shots on the last two holes and had to settle for a one-under-par 71.

“I hit balls for half an hour on Tuesday, half an hour yesterday and then the warm-up today and actually in fairness I felt pretty strong,” Willett said at the time. “But when it goes it goes.”

Willett went on to add rounds of 71, 70 and 76 to finish in a tie for 64th.

The eight-time DP World Tour winner, who pulled out of the Irish Open after an opening 76, visited a surgeon in Manchester on Monday to determine the best course of action.

Phil Mickelson has revealed the harm and hurt his gambling addiction has caused to those closest to him.

The 53-year-old six-time major winner, who opened up about his addiction in a lengthy post on social media, claimed it affected those he cared about “in ways I wasn’t aware or could fully understand”.

Mickelson wrote on X: “I won’t be betting this year because I crossed the line of moderation and into addiction which isn’t any fun at all.

“The money wasn’t ever the issue since our financial security has never been threatened, but I was so distracted I wasn’t able to be present with the ones I love and caused a lot of harm. This lack of presence has been so hurtful.

“‘You’re here but you’re not with us’, is something I’ve been told often throughout my addiction. It affected those I care about in ways I wasn’t aware or could fully understand.”

Betting guru Billy Walters opened the lid on Mickelson’s gambling habit in his autobiography, claiming the LIV golfer had placed bets of more than one billion dollars in the last 30 years.

Mickelson paid tribute to wife Amy for her support and urged gamblers not to “confuse your enablers as friends like I did”.

He said: “It’s like a hurricane is going on outside and I’m isolated in a shelter oblivious to what was happening.

“When I came out there was so much damage to clean up that I just wanted to go back inside and not deal with it.

“If you ever cross the line of moderation and enter into addiction, hopefully you won’t confuse your enablers as friends like I did.

“Hopefully you won’t have to deal with these difficult moments publicly so others can profit off you like I have.

“But hopefully you will have a strong and supportive partner who is willing to help you through being your worst self, and through your worst moments like I have in Amy.

“She has loved me and supported me through my darkest and most difficult times. I couldn’t have gotten through this without her.”

He added: “Because of her love, support and commitment, I’m back on track to being the person I want to be.

“After many years of receiving professional help, not gambling, and being in recovery from my addictions, I’m now able to sit still, be present in the moment and live each day with an inner calm and peace.

“I still have a lot of cleaning up to do with those I love the most but I’m doing it slowly and as best I can.”

New Zealand’s Ryan Fox staged a brilliant comeback to win the BMW PGA Championship as rising star Ludvig Aberg was brought down to earth at Wentworth.

Fox began the final round three shots behind leader Aberg and looked out of contention after running up a triple-bogey seven on the third, but covered his last 13 holes in eight under par for a closing 67.

An 18-under-par total gave Fox a one-shot victory over playing partner Aaron Rai and England’s Tyrrell Hatton, Rai agonisingly missing a long eagle putt on the 18th which could have given him the title or at least forced a play-off.

Jon Rahm, who had been runner-up on each of his two previous appearances at Wentworth, carded an erratic 68 to claim fourth on 16 under as seven members of Europe’s Ryder Cup side packed the top 10, with Rory McIlroy surging through the field with a 65.

Aberg, who had been seeking back-to-back victories in just his 10th event as a professional, held a two-shot lead after 54 holes but slumped to a closing 76 which included two double bogeys in the space of three holes.

“I don’t really know what to think at the moment to be honest,” Fox said.

“It’s not a tournament that has treated me very well in the past, although I’ve loved coming here. I don’t know what changed today but it’s pretty special to make a birdie on the last to win.

“To have a back nine like that, especially after how I started the day, it’s amazing. I played great and pretty much didn’t miss a shot from the third hole onwards.”

Fox, who is the first New Zealander to win the title, added: “It’s such an iconic tournament. I know Michael Campbell won the World Match Play here and to add to that history with my family here to support me just made the week.

“We have been through a pretty tough year as a family. Lost my father-in-law in June after a really, really short battle with cancer and that kind of rocked the family.

“To have them here and have number two with us, little Margot who is four months old, is very, very special.”

Hatton had started the day five off the lead but birdied the second and third, almost made a hole-in-one on the fifth when his tee shot clattered into the pin and then holed out from a bunker on the sixth.

After dropping a shot on the eighth, further birdies on the 10th and 11th gave Hatton a four-shot lead before Fox began his charge with four birdies in five holes from the 10th to get within one.

Hatton then drove out of bounds on the 15th and was facing a seven-foot putt for bogey before play was suspended due to the threat of lightning, a putt he duly made after an 82-minute delay.

Fox was fortunate that a wayward drive on the same hole did not run deep into the trees but took full advantage, hitting a superb second shot from the pine straw to 10 feet and converting the birdie putt to lead outright.

Hatton birdied the last to set up the prospect of a play-off but, after Rai’s eagle attempt agonisingly caught the edge of the hole and stayed out, Fox calmly holed from six feet to seal a fourth DP World Tour title.

Hatton, who won the title in 2020 when fans were absent due to Covid restrictions, said: “It’s definitely mixed emotions.

“This tournament means a lot to me. Would have been nice to win with fans, especially my dad being here, that would have been cool.

“Not sure I’ll even be disappointed with the tee shot on 15, it had started raining pretty heavy. It is what it is. Tried my best and it was a great week.”

Aberg, whose victory in the final qualifying event earned him a Ryder Cup wild card, admitted failing to close out victory would “sting for a long time”.

“This was the first time I was leading a tournament and I felt like I handled it quite well, to be honest,” the 23-year-old Swede said.

“It was quite difficult out there and I made a few stupid mistakes where I missed on the wrong side and was a little bit too cute with the chips.

“It cost me today and I’m trying to learn from it and I’m looking forward to the next time I’m in that same position.”

McIlroy was pleased to shoot 12 under par over the weekend after only making the cut with a birdie on the 18th on Friday evening, but disappointed not to birdie either the 17th or 18th to put more pressure on the leaders.

Defending champion Shane Lowry finished in a tie for 18th after running up a quadruple-bogey nine on the 17th in a closing 71.

New Zealand’s Ryan Fox staged a brilliant comeback to win the BMW PGA Championship as rising star Ludvig Aberg was brought down to earth at Wentworth.

Fox began the final round three shots behind leader Aberg and looked out of contention after running up a triple-bogey seven on the third, but covered his last 13 holes in eight under par for a closing 67.

An 18-under-par total gave Fox a one-shot victory over playing partner Aaron Rai and England’s Tyrrell Hatton, Rai agonisingly missing a long eagle putt on the 18th which could have given him the title or at least forced a play-off.

Jon Rahm, who had been runner-up on each of his two previous appearances at Wentworth, carded an erratic 68 to claim fourth place on 16 under as seven members of Europe’s Ryder Cup side packed the top 10, with Rory McIlroy surging through the field with a 65.

Aberg, who had been seeking back-to-back victories in just his 10th event as a professional, held a two-shot lead after 54 holes but slumped to a closing 76 which included two double bogeys in the space of three holes.

Hatton had started the day five off the lead but birdied the second and third, almost made a hole-in-one on the fifth when his tee shot clattered into the pin and then holed out from a bunker on the sixth.

After dropping a shot on the eighth, further birdies on the 10th and 11th gave Hatton a four-shot lead before Fox began his charge with four birdies in five holes from the 10th to get within one.

Hatton then drove out of bounds on the 15th and was facing a seven-foot putt for bogey before play was suspended due to the threat of lightning, a putt he duly made after an 82-minute delay.

Fox was fortunate that a wayward drive on the same hole did not run deep into the trees but took full advantage, hitting a superb second shot from the pine straw to 10 feet and converting the birdie putt to lead outright.

Hatton birdied the last to set up the prospect of a play-off but, after Rai’s eagle attempt agonisingly caught the edge of the hole and stayed out, Fox calmly holed from six feet to seal a fourth DP World Tour title.

Ludvig Aberg’s meteoric rise shows no signs of slowing down after the Ryder Cup rookie cruised into a two-shot lead in the BMW PGA Championship.

Playing just his 10th event since turning professional, Aberg carded a third round of 66 at Wentworth to reach 16 under par in pursuit of back-to-back victories on the DP World Tour.

England’s Tommy Fleetwood delighted the large crowds with a 67 to share second place on 14 under with Scotland’s Connor Syme, who covered the back nine in 31 in a superb 65.

Masters champion Jon Rahm, who was two over par for the tournament after 21 holes, is four shots off the pace following a 66 which included vital birdies on the 17th and 18th.

Aberg, whose victory in the European Masters earlier this month earned him a Ryder Cup wild card from Europe captain Luke Donald hours later, admitted winning the BMW PGA Championship was “very, very high” on his bucket list.

“It is one of the biggest events on the DP World Tour, it’s been like that for a long time,” the 23-year-old said.

“I’ve got memories of Alex (Noren) winning here when he hit an unbelievable shot into 18. It’s really cool to see myself up there, I have to pinch myself in the arm every now and then but it’s quite cool.

“I think expectations just changed after Switzerland in terms of knowing I can do it. Even though I’ve won in college quite a bit it is different, whether you like it or not, to win on the pro stage and it was pretty cool to do that.

“I could tell myself that I could do it and was good enough and hopefully I’ll be able to do that tomorrow too.”

Fleetwood is also targeting a significant victory in front of a home crowd which roared him on every step of the way, the 32-year-old kickstarting his recovery from a slow start with an eagle on the fourth courtesy of a lesson from Rory McIlroy.

“I had a lesson out of the rough from Rory on Monday when the Ryder Cup team were in Rome,” Fleetwood said.

“I always struggle to get steep on it and I am always chopping out of the rough so he just helped me with a couple of things on how better to do it really.

“It worked a couple of times today. The one with an eight iron on number four was good, it came out perfect and it is a new shot in my locker.”

Fleetwood has endured several near-misses this season, including losing a play-off in the Canadian Open when Nick Taylor holed from 70 feet for a winning eagle, but would love to taste victory in front of a “biased” home crowd.

“This event means a lot to pretty much all of us on the Tour and I have not had much joy here to be honest,” Fleetwood added.

“But the crowds this week have been amazing, very biased in my direction which is great, and this event is one that everyone would love to tick off in their career.”

Syme will play alongside Fleetwood and Aberg in the final group on Sunday and will have plenty of family support after revealing his father Stuart, who is also his coach, had missed a wedding to remain at Wentworth this weekend.

“He made the decision when I was making a few birdies yesterday (Friday) afternoon,” Syme said.

“It’s my mum’s best friend’s daughter’s wedding. They spoke and my mum was happy to go on her own. My mum said that if my dad could help me even a little bit by staying down, that would be fine with her.

“I actually didn’t make that decision, by the way, so I don’t feel any pressure at all! I was expecting him to be heading home when I came off the course on Friday, but there he was.”

All 12 members of Europe’s Ryder Cup team made the halfway cut when the delayed second round of the BMW PGA Championship was completed on Saturday.

Nine groups had been unable to finish on schedule on Friday evening due to an earlier 80-minute fog delay, with enough players remaining to potentially move the cut mark to two under par.

However, that outside chance failed to materialise, meaning Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Nicolai Hojgaard could breathe a sigh of relief after advancing on the mark of one under.

The second day’s play at Wentworth had finished amid farcical scenes which saw four groups waiting on the 18th tee as they tried to beat the fading light and complete their rounds.

McIlroy’s group was the last of the four and when he eventually reached the green it was predominantly illuminated by the light from a giant scoreboard, but the 2014 winner two-putted from 45 feet for birdie to scrape through to the weekend.

Asked to describe the late-night drama, McIlroy said: “It was a s***show.

“The fog obviously delayed things but I’ve never remembered having that many players on 17 and 18. It’s not as if they teed us off in tighter slots or anything.

“It’s hard for me trying to play the last well and make the cut, it’s a bit of a mad dash and a scramble to get finished. I don’t know what you could do about that apart from less players in the field.”

Playing alongside McIlroy, rising star Ludvig Aberg had birdied the last three holes to complete a 66 and join fellow Swede Sebastian Soderberg on top of the leaderboard at 10 under par.

Adrian Meronk, who was controversially overlooked for a Ryder Cup wild card, was a shot behind alongside Tommy Fleetwood, Thomas Detry and Masahiro Kawamura.

Justin Thomas found some much-needed form ahead of the Ryder Cup as he shot a second round 67 in the Fortinet Championship.

Sadith Theegala shot a second round 64 to tie SH Kim at 12-under-par on top of the leaderboard.

But it is the presence of Thomas, winless on the PGA Tour this season and reliant on a wildcard pick from Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson, four strokes back in a tie for sixth which caught the eye.

Having hit just three fairways in an opening 69, Thomas switched to a longer driver he has been experimenting with in recent weeks.

“I could tell in one video I was getting stuck underneath it,” said the double Major winner, who hit eight fairways in the second round. “If I drive it like I did today, I’ll use it for the rest of my career.

“I had a good thought from just a little 10-minute range session that I felt like could get me through today and it worked pretty well.

“That’s a part of what I think has made me as successful as I’ve been in my career, I’ve been very good at adjusting on the fly.”

Thomas’ fellow Ryder Cup player Max Home was among those tied with him on eight-under par, one better than a group including English dup Callum Tarren and Harry Hall.

US Ryder Cup captain Johnson was among those to miss the cut.

As Sandals Resorts moves to deepen and strengthen ties with its international partners, it was the United Sates Travel Advisors turn to have their fun in the sun at the 19th annual golf tournament at the Sandals Golf and Country Club in St Ann.

After two days of enticing competition, which allows Travel Advisors to experience and, later sell Jamaica as the destination of choice for sports and tourism, it was Team 10 that finished tops in the four-man scramble format, played over 18 holes.

Pete Drab, Damon Spady, Megan Sams and Scott Austin made up the winning team that scored 58 across both days to end with a total of 116.

Team 10 won ahead of Teams six and eight, as they ended with a similar score of 123, after both had similar scores of 62 on Thursday’s first day and 61 on Friday’s final day.

Adam Anderson, David Anderson, David Schutz and Jeremy Lee made up Team six, while Team eight comprised of Craig and Angela Mansperger, Ro Gallo and Mike Tipple.

Aside from the main event, the serious side of the golf tournament, saw Sandals Foundation raising US$1,210 (approximately $187,000 Jamaican dollars) for its outreach programmes to assist those in need.

Mike Zuch and Linda Hyde bettered rivals in the men’s and women’s Closet to the Pin event, while Harold Kelly and Julie Gildner, finished tops in their respective categories of the Longest Drive competition.

 

Rory McIlroy battled a last-hole “s***show” to keep the prospects of the entire Ryder Cup team making the cut in the BMW PGA Championship alive.

Following an 80-minute due to early morning fog, the second day’s play at Wentworth finished amid farcical scenes which saw four groups waiting on the 18th tee and Thomas Bjorn exchanging words with a drunk spectator up ahead on the closing hole.

With the 18th green predominantly illuminated by the light from a giant scoreboard, Mcllroy two-putted from 45 feet for birdie to finish on the projected cut mark of one under par.

The four-time major will have to wait until the second round is completed on Saturday morning to learn his fate, while playing partner Ludvig Aberg continued his brilliant form by sharing the lead with fellow Swede Sebastian Soderberg on 10 under.

Asked to describe the late-night drama, McIlroy said: “It was a s***show.

“The fog obviously delayed things but I’ve never remembered having that many players on 17 and 18. It’s not as if they teed us off in tighter slots or anything.

“It’s hard for me trying to play the last well and make the cut, it’s a bit of a mad dash and a scramble to get finished. I don’t know what you could do about that apart from less players in the field.”

Soderberg had earlier made an eagle on the 18th to complete a superb 64 and set the clubhouse target which was matched by Aberg, who birdied the 16th, 17th and 18th in his 66.

The Swedish pair enjoyed a one-shot lead over Adrian Meronk, Tommy Fleetwood, Thomas Detry and Masahiro Kawamura, with Tyrrell Hatton on seven under and Jon Rahm and Matt Fitzpatrick another stroke back.

Meronk said last week he was “shocked, sad and angry” not to receive a pick from Europe captain Luke Donald, especially after winning his third DP World Tour title in the space of 10 months in May’s Italian Open at the Ryder Cup venue on the outskirts of Rome.

“I have accepted it,” the 30-year-old Pole said at Wentworth.

“The first couple of days after were tough, but I have moved on and am focused on my game. I want to finish the season strongly and that is my only goal now.

“I know it’s easy to say, but it’s like having a bad round and letting it go. This one was a little bit tougher to accept because it wasn’t based on me and someone else made that decision.

“I definitely think it is wrong. I feel I’ve deserved it. I feel I’ve shown in the last two years that I’ve played really good on the DP World Tour. If you look at the results and the numbers, I thought it was enough, but there’s nothing I can do now.

“But I have been pretty good at accepting things in my career. I’m trying to turn all that disappointment and anger into motivation, especially this week.”

Meronk, who received shouts of encouragement in Polish as he completed his round, believes the captain having six wild cards is too many and that one should be held back until after the end of the DP World Tour’s flagship event.

“I’d say that four would probably be reasonable and I think leaving one or two picks for these big tournaments would be a good idea,” he added.

“This time the team has been picked basically after a four-week break and then playing two small events. I think one spot should be reserved after this week at least.”

Rahm looked in danger of missing the halfway cut when he thinned his second shot on the first into the face of a fairway bunker and ran up a double bogey, before also dropping a shot on the third.

However, the Masters champion responded with an eagle on the fourth, chipped in to save par on the sixth and covered his last 10 holes in six under par.

“None of those swings felt bad, it was just an unfortunate thing to happen on the first but you have put it on the fairway around here,” said Rahm, who carded a closing 62 here last year to finish runner-up for the second time in two starts.

Adrian Meronk insisted he has accepted being overlooked for a Ryder Cup wild card as he threatened to outscore all 12 members of the European team in the BMW PGA Championship.

After an 80-minute delay due to early morning fog, Meronk added a second round of 68 to his opening 67 at Wentworth to share the clubhouse lead with Belgium’s Thomas Detry and Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura.

Former winner Tyrrell Hatton was the best-placed of the Ryder Cup dozen in the early wave on seven under, with Jon Rahm and Matt Fitzpatrick both a shot further back.

Meronk said last week he was “shocked, sad and angry” not to receive a pick from Europe captain Luke Donald, especially after winning his third DP World Tour title in the space of 10 months in May’s Italian Open at the Ryder Cup venue on the outskirts of Rome.

“I have accepted it,” the 30-year-old Pole said at Wentworth.

“The first couple of days after were tough, but I have moved on and am focused on my game. I want to finish the season strongly and that is my only goal now.

“I know it’s easy to say, but it’s like having a bad round and letting it go. This one was a little bit tougher to accept because it wasn’t based on me and someone else made that decision.

“I definitely think it is wrong. I feel I’ve deserved it. I feel I’ve shown in the last two years that I’ve played really good on the DP World Tour. If you look at the results and the numbers, I thought it was enough, but there’s nothing I can do now.

“But I have been pretty good at accepting things in my career. I’m trying to turn all that disappointment and anger into motivation, especially this week.”

Meronk, who received shouts of encouragement in Polish as he completed his round, believes the captain having six wild cards is too many and that one should be held back until after the end of the DP World Tour’s flagship event.

“I’d say that four would probably be reasonable and I think leaving one or two picks for these big tournaments would be a good idea,” he added.

“This time the team has been picked basically after a four-week break and then playing two small events. I think one spot should be reserved after this week at least.”

Rahm looked in danger of missing the halfway cut when he thinned his second shot on the first into the face of a fairway bunker and ran up a double bogey, before also dropping a shot on the third.

However, the Masters champion responded with an eagle on the fourth, chipped in to save par on the sixth and covered his last 10 holes in six under par.

“None of those swings felt bad, it was just an unfortunate thing to happen on the first but you have put it on the fairway around here,” said Rahm, who carded a closing 62 here last year to finish runner-up for the second time in two starts.

Ludvig Aberg continued to justify his billing as golf’s next superstar as he outscored two of the world’s best players to make an impressive start to the BMW PGA Championship.

A day after Rory McIlroy declared himself firmly on board the Aberg “bandwagon”, Aberg partnered the world number two and FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland at Wentworth and outscored them both.

The 23-year-old Swede, who only turned professional in June but was given a Ryder Cup wild card hours after winning the final qualifying event, carded a four-under-par 68 despite a double bogey on the 17th, while Hovland returned a 69 and McIlroy struggled to a level-par 72.

Aberg made five consecutive birdies from the 11th and also birdied the last after running up a seven on the 17th, where he pulled his drive out of bounds.

“The 17th was a little bit stupid but other than that I felt like I hit the ball great and gave myself a few chances, especially on the back nine where it’s a little bit more scoreable,” Aberg said.

“Overall, I’m really happy with the way I played. I was very nervous this morning, it would have been weird if I wasn’t, and there were a lot more people following me round than usual.

“But playing with Rory and Viktor was a lot of fun. To be walking down the fairway with them and having conversations has been pretty cool. I am proud of the way I handled that, playing good golf with so much going on and I am trying to keep that up.”

Hovland was full of praise for his Ryder Cup team-mate, echoing Justin Rose’s description of the former world number one amateur as a “stud”.

“The way he’s played the last couple of months, he has not been a pro very long but he certainly doesn’t look scared of the moment,” the world number four said.

“I think this week is a great experience for him but I think he’s ready regardless.

“He’s a stud. When you have the tools, it is easy to trust it. He’s obviously very mature and you just step up and do it. He’s super talented and he is going to be around a long time. He’s going to do great things.”

Denmark’s Marcus Helligkilde held the clubhouse lead on eight under par after carding 10 birdies and two bogeys in a 64, with England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and Scotland’s Richie Ramsay sharing second on six under.

Fitzpatrick, who announced his engagement to girlfriend Katherine Gaal last week, said: “It’s a great start to the week. I feel like I just played really solid overall and did everything well.

“It’s nice to play well in front of the home crowd, I’m focused on playing well this week and I know that when Sunday night comes I can look towards the Ryder Cup and work on what I need to do to get ready for that.”

Former winner Tyrrell Hatton carded a 68 despite finding the water with his approach to the 18th, while defending champion Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood both shot 69.

“I got off to a great start, three under through seven, and a couple of bogeys around the turn wasn’t great, but I think the course is playing a little bit more difficult this year,” Lowry said.

“There’s a lot more rough and it’s a little bit firmer so three under is not a bad score.”

Former winner Danny Willett looked set to challenge the lead when he covered his first 12 holes in six under par, only for the 2019 champion to aggravate an ongoing shoulder injury after hitting his tee shot on the 15th.

That led to a double bogey and the former Masters champion dropped three more shots on the last two holes and had to settle for a one-under-par 71.

“I hit balls for half an hour on Tuesday, half an hour yesterday and then the warm-up today and actually in fairness I felt pretty strong,” Willett said. “But when it goes it goes.”

Willett, who pulled out of last week’s Irish Open after an opening 76, will visit a surgeon in Manchester on Monday to determine the best course of action.

Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg overcame his nerves and a “stupid” double bogey to make an impressive start to the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Playing alongside Ryder Cup team-mates Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland, Aberg carded five birdies in a row on the back nine before hitting his tee shot out of bounds on the par-five 17th.

However, the 23-year-old responded with a birdie on the last to card an opening four-under-par 68, with Hovland returning a 69 and McIlroy struggling to a level-par 72.

“The 17th was a little bit stupid but other than that I felt like I hit the ball great and gave myself a few chances, especially on the back nine where it’s a little bit more scoreable,” Aberg said.

“Overall, I’m really happy with the way I played. I was very nervous this morning, it would have been weird if I wasn’t, but playing with Rory and Viktor was a lot of fun.”

Aberg only turned professional in June after a stellar amateur career, but won the final Ryder Cup qualifying event in Switzerland and was given a wild card by Europe captain Luke Donald the following day.

McIlroy declared on Wednesday that he was now at the front of the Aberg “bandwagon” after partnering him in a practice round in Rome two days earlier, while Hovland joined Justin Rose in labelling him a “stud”.

“The way he’s played the last couple of months, he has not been a pro very long but he certainly doesn’t look scared of the moment,” Hovland said. “I think this week is a great experience for him but I think he’s ready regardless.”

Denmark’s Marcus Helligkilde held the clubhouse lead on eight under par after carding 10 birdies and two bogeys in a 64, while defending champion Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood both shot 69.

“I got off to a great start, three under through seven, and a couple of bogeys around the turn wasn’t great, but I think the course is playing a little bit more difficult this year,” Lowry said.

“There’s a lot more rough and it’s a little bit firmer so three under is not a bad score.”

Rory McIlroy has placed himself firmly at the front of the Ludvig Aberg “bandwagon” ahead of the rising star’s Ryder Cup debut.

Aberg was hailed as a generational talent by Europe captain Luke Donald after he gave the 23-year-old Swede one of his six wild cards for the upcoming contest against the United States.

A former world number one amateur, Aberg only turned professional in June but won the final qualifying event in Switzerland and will make the quickest transition from the amateur ranks to the Ryder Cup in the contest’s history.

Such has been Aberg’s meteoric rise that McIlroy, the world number two and four-time major winner, said he had been excited to play alongside him in practice at the Ryder Cup venue on Monday.

“There’s a few new faces on the team and I thought it was a great exercise in terms of getting to know one another a little bit better,” said McIlroy, who teamed up with Tommy Fleetwood but lost 3&2 to Aberg and Viktor Hovland.

“I had an opportunity to play with Ludvig for the first time on Monday, which I was excited about. I told him I’ve been looking forward to this for a while.”

Asked if Aberg had lived up to his expectations, Mcllroy added: “Probably exceeded them. Everyone talks about what a great driver of the golf ball he is, which he is. The ball-striking is incredible.

“But I was really impressed with his wedge play and how he can sort of control his trajectory with shorter clubs. I was on the bandwagon before and I’m certainly at the front of it now.”

McIlroy partnered Shane Lowry and Ian Poulter (twice) in the last Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, but lost all three matches as Europe suffered a humiliating 19-9 defeat in Wisconsin.

The 34-year-old was also left out of a session for the first time since making his debut in 2010 and gave a tearful television interview after beating Xander Schauffele in the opening singles on the final day.

“I told a story on Monday night to the team about watching Brookline in ’99 on TV and crying after America came back and Europe lost, and obviously I cried in Whistling Straits in 2021, so not much has changed,” McIlroy said.

“I feel as someone that should go out there and win points for the team, I didn’t do that. Whether it would have made a difference to whether we won or lost if I did play well that week, who knows.

“We’re not used to playing for other people in this game, and you go out there and you’re playing for your team-mates, you want to do well for them.

“I felt like I didn’t do that and I felt like I didn’t give a good account of myself and that stung and the scoreline stung. First time I had been dropped in a session in The Ryder Cup. It was a difficult week for me.

“But that emotion was real and what I said at the end of that tournament was all true.

“It is by far the best experience in sport, and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with your team-mates in an environment like that is I think the epitome of what competition and what sport is.”

Shane Lowry admits he was not best pleased to hear criticism of his Ryder Cup wild card after taking the chance to “shut a few people up” with his performance in the Irish Open.

Lowry received one of captain Luke Donald’s six picks having finished 11th on the European points list and eighth on the world points list, with only the top three on each qualifying automatically.

The former Open champion won the first qualifying event – and will defend his BMW PGA Championship title this week – but his sole top-10 finish in 2023 prior to The K Club came in February’s Honda Classic.

That led to criticism of Lowry’s selection, with former British Masters
winner Richard Bland among those believing that Adrian Meronk’s consistent form – including May’s Italian Open victory at the Ryder Cup venue – meant the Pole “deserves a pick over an out-of-form Lowry”.

“I know there was a little bit about that last week and…. I need to be careful here,” Lowry said in his pre-tournament press conference at Wentworth.

“Didn’t sit very well with me to be honest. I feel like, yes, my results have not been amazing this year, but I feel if you purely go down to statistics and go down the 12 best players in Europe, I’m one of them. And I feel like I deserve my place on the team.

“I didn’t feel like I had to go out and prove anything to anyone last week. The Irish Open is a huge tournament for me and a tournament I wanted to play well in.

“If it shut a few people up, so be it, but I wasn’t trying to do that last week. I wasn’t trying to finish third last week, I was trying to win the tournament. So last week was disappointing for me.

“This week is the same. I’m trying to win the tournament here this week.  I know I deserve to be on that team and I know I’ll be good in Rome in a couple weeks and I’m very excited for it.”

All 12 of Europe’s team are competing at Wentworth after a flying visit to Marco Simone Golf and Country Club on Monday, where the thickness of the rough has proved a major topic of conversation.

Numerous balls were reportedly lost during the practice round and Lowry joked: “I only lost one so I was pretty happy with myself.

“Our group (Robert MacIntyre, Sepp Straka and Justin Rose) was actually pretty good, we didn’t lose that many, but one group had a bad day losing a few.

“It’s pretty brutal in spots but just off the fairways is no different to what you might see at the US Open or something like that. If you go a decent bit off the fairways that’s going to get very interesting.”

Asked if players thought the rough might need to be cut back, Lowry added: “No. If you hit a good drive down the fairway and hit a good second shot you’re on the green, that’s what golf’s about. That’s how I see it.

“If you look at the way the course is set up, Scottie Scheffler is number one tee-to-green in the world. So it should suit him. They have got some of the best players in the world.

“But we also have some of the best players in the world and I honestly think that it all comes down to who gets off to a fast start and who holes the most putts. That’s what Ryder Cups are about.”

Europe will certainly hope home advantage plays its part as seven of the last eight Ryder Cups have been won by the home side, with 2012’s ‘Miracle at Medinah’ the lone exception.

The United States stormed to a record 19-9 victory at Whistling Straits two years ago, but Lowry is confident a new generation of European players will prove a different proposition in Rome.

“If you look at their team, Scottie Scheffler was the worst player and he was 21st in the world, and he was world number one about five months later. That’s kind of what we are up against,” Lowry said.

“I feel like this is almost like maybe the next generation for European golf and I think that’s very exciting to see guys like Nicolai (Hojgaard) and Ludvig (Aberg) on the team and Viktor (Hovland).

“You look at Vincent Norrman winning last week, he’s probably going to be on future European Ryder Cup teams. I think European golf is better than what people have been talking about over the last couple of years.”

Sweden’s Vincent Norrman surged through the field to win the Horizon Irish Open as Rory McIlroy’s bid for a second victory in the event came to a shambolic end.

Norrman carded a flawless closing 65 at The K Club to finish 14 under par and a shot ahead of 54-hole leader Hurly Long, with former champion Shane Lowry part of a four-way tie for third on 12 under.

McIlroy began the final round two behind Long and birdied the first and fourth either side of a 90-minute weather delay to share the lead, but found water on the seventh, 11th and twice on the 16th as he stumbled to a 74.

Norrman started the day six behind Long but made six birdies in the space of eight holes from the seventh and then two-putted the par-five 18th for another to set the clubhouse target on 14 under.

Long was briefly on the same score thanks to a birdie on the 12th, but bogeyed the next two holes and was unable to make an eagle on the last to force a play-off.

“It means everything,” Norrman said after his second DP World Tour title in two months, the first coming in the co-sanctioned Barbasol Championship in July.

“It’s such a cool event to play, the fans have been incredible and I really had a fun week out there. It was a long wait (for everyone to finish) but I’m super happy. I can’t believe this happened. I’m over the moon.

“I was starting off a little so-so and I made two birdies and got a rain delay, had a coffee and then went out and flushed it.

“I knew there were a few chances out there. I didn’t really have a number in my head. I just tried to press on with some birdie looks and saved a few great pars too to keep the momentum going.”

McIlroy, who lifted the trophy the last time The K Club hosted the event in 2016, followed his early birdies with a double bogey on the seventh and a bogey on the 11th before reviving his chances with a birdie on the 13th.

However, the world number two then hit his second shot on the 16th into the water for the second day running and amazingly flew his fourth shot from the drop zone over the green and into the same hazard, eventually getting up and down from a greenside bunker for a triple-bogey eight.

Lowry, who began the week facing questions about his Ryder Cup wild card after recording just one top-10 finish in 2023, carded a third 68 of the week which featured a tap-in eagle on the fourth and four birdies.

“It’s obviously a tournament that I would love to win again,” Lowry, who was still an amateur when he won in 2009, said.

“I’m a little disappointed now because to be honest I didn’t see a scoreboard for a long time out there. There was not many out there and 13 under was still leading when I got to the 16th green.

“I did my best and it’s been a great week. The crowds were incredible. It’s one of the best Irish Opens I can remember.

“All in all it’s been a good week for me and a step in the right direction and I’ll be back to defend my (BMW PGA Championship) title at Wentworth next week, which is exciting as well.”

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