Donald targets more Wentworth glory

It may have escaped your notice in the midst of Rory McIlroy’s romantic problems but there is a golf tournament about to get under way at Wentworth today.

The BMW PGA Championship tees off today with a €5m prize fund and the most world ranking points of the year for a regular season event on this side of the Atlantic up for grabs.

No wonder Europe’s best golfers consider it the flagship tournament of the European tour.

And it is the reason why McIlroy, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Luke Donald and all the other American-based stars decamp from the PGA Tour and come home, even if Wentworth’s West Course just outside London is not everyone’s cup of tea.

McIlroy’s cancelled nuptials may have seen him slip a couple of points from co-favourite status with two-time runner up Lee Westwood but two missed cuts in successive seasons tell you all you need to know about how he feels about the place since Ernie Els was asked to revamp the course.

Ian Poulter, meanwhile, has missed eight cuts in 14 appearances but Luke Donald has flourished here since those changes were made, winning back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012.

While the big-hitting McIlroy feels the changes have taken the driver out of his hands on all but a couple of holes, the shorter hitting Donald, who beat Westwood here in a play-off in 2011 to become world number one, clearly relishes the more strategic challenge Wentworth now poses.

“The course has changed over the years,” Donald said. “Everybody has opinions about the design. For me it particularly suited my game. There is a lot of emphasis on the short game because of the ‘sectioned off’ greens.

“That, plus the fact that there are some tougher pin positions makes you think a lot more in and around the greens.

“The surfaces of the greens were changed and from that moment my improvement level went up and I was able to gain a few shots. It played to one of my strengths, which is putting.

“Before, you could miss short putts without actually hitting a bad putt.”

Donald’s track record here alsoincludes a missed cut last year when, like McIlroy in 2013, he was going through something of a slump related to swing changes.

And like the Irishman, he is feeling his way back into some form with a runner-up finish on the PGA Tour last month at the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head.

“My form’s been decent, but hasn’t been spectacular. Any time you go through some changes, it takes time, and I’m still not 100% comfortable with everything, but every week it seems to get a little bit easier,” Donald said.

“Certainly when I feel like it’s in the groove, I feel very confident about some of the changes I’ve made. But it’s still taking a little bit of time to get that absolute comfort level, but I’m certainly pleased with recent results.”

There are certainly better form horses, including Germany’s Martin Kaymer, one of five former world number ones in the field alongside Donald, McIlroy, Westwood, and Els.

His victory at TPC Sawgrass was a welcome return to the winners’ enclosure while Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, the 2008 champion, is defying convention with some riveting form past his 50th birthday.

Jimenez, fifth in the Race to Dubai rankings, followed his fourth place in the Masters last month with victory last Sunday at the Spanish Open, stretching his record as the oldest European Tour winner.

Add world number three Stenson, number seven Sergio Garcia and number nine Rose, to the mix as well as Masters runner-up Jonas Blixt and Europe has a tournament to talk about, whatever’s happening with Rory’s love life.