THE BMW PGA Championship may be worth €750,000 to the winner, a major injection of world and Ryder Cup points and an untold degree of prestige.

PÁDRAIG Harrington leads an eight strong Irish challenge into the final two rounds of the €4.5m BMW PGA Championship after firing a faultless best of the day four under par 67 over the West Course at Wentworth yesterday.

GARETH MAYBIN played the 17th and18th in yesterday’s first round of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in eight shots.

WHEN you have worked hard and fought a dodgy swing to stand three under after 16 holes in the first round of the PGA Championship at Wentworth, you are perfectly entitled to dream of a score in the mid 60s given the last two are par fives reachable in two.

IRISH golfers have won tournaments – including majors – in almost every corner of the globe.

THE EUROPEAN Tour begins in earnest this week with its flagship tournament, the BMW PGA Championship, boasting a €4.5m prize fund, taking centre stage at Wentworth.

THE so called fifth major, the Players Championship at Sawgrass over the weekend, proved a salutary lesson for Ireland’s top two players, Rory McIlroy and Pádraig Harrington.

EUROPEAN Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie has sounded a reminder to Pádraig Harrington that Celtic Manor team selection could very well hinge on a commitment to key European Tour tournaments.

DARREN CLARKE is acutely aware of the life-changing scenario when your wife is diagnosed with breast cancer. Little wonder then that Clarke offered immediate support to Phil Mickelson and his wife, Amy, after she was diagnosed with the disease.

A COUPLE of hours after his victory in the Irish Open, Padraig Harrington was signing autographs for admirers when a lady asked him if he was going back to Dublin.

A CLASSY guy and a classy golfer, that’s David Howell, who yesterday cruised to a convincing victory and a cheque for €708,330 in the BMW PGA Championship.

TWO destructive shots cost Paul McGinley a golfing dream at Wentworth - as well as £600,000 in prize money and a lump of Ryder Cup points.

A week that had shone so brightly for the Irish contingent in the BMW Championship finished in considerable disappointment with Paul McGinley losing out by two strokes to Angel Cabrera and the other challengers faltering at the final hurdle.

FAR more than a golf tournament and lots of money were at stake at Wentworth yesterday when the BMW PGA Championship eventually went to a worthy winner in 35 year-old Argentinian Angel Cabrera.

THE Irish takeover of the £4m BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth continues apace.

A ROUND of 70 on the testing Burma Road course at Wentworth yesterday was far from a disaster for Pádraig Harrington.

ERNIE ELS and Thomas Bjorn live on the Wentworth estate. Colin Montgomerie did at one time.

IRELAND’S challenge for this week’s Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth is led by Darren Clarke, a man with a decent record around the Burma Road lay-out.