BMW PGA Championship Predictions: Rai Can Find a Way

• Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm head the betting

• Defending champion Billy Horschel returns to action after injury

• The famous West Course at Wentworth hosts

BMW PGA Championship Odds

Odds from bet365 sportsbook. Sign up at bet365 with our promo code WSN365 and claim $300 in bonus bets with a $5 wager.

BMW PGA Championship Picks and Predictions

• Aaron Rai to win at +3000 plus top five (and ties) +500 with FanDuel

• Justin Rose each-way first round leader at +4000 with BetMGM

• Shane Lowry top 20 at +110 with bet365

BMW PGA Championship Intro

There are some folk who argue that the BMW PGA Championship is no longer the flagship event of the DP World Tour. 

The end-of-year DP World Tour Championship is more lucrative and completes the season-long Race to Dubai rankings, but the annual visit to the circuit’s headquarters at Wentworth, near London, still holds enormous cache among golfers and fans alike.

The West Course, which hosts the championship, will be forever associated with the glory days of the European Tour (before it became the DP World Tour), and every year, the current stars return in hope of adding their names to those of the past - and that inspirational factor can never be overlooked.

Every English winner in the 21st century has admitted to having walked these very fairways as a boy, chasing the players for balls, gloves, and autographs. Rory McIlroy did the same.

Italian winners Matteo Manassero and Francesco Molinari recalled watching their heroes win on the course, and even two-time American champion Billy Horschel spoke of the venue in awe ahead of his debut, remembering how he watched the tournament on TV as a kid and dreamed of playing in it.

Who will fulfill their golfing fantasies this week? Let’s take a look.

Winners at the Wentworth Club

West Course, Wentworth Notes

• The course is a par 72 that is set up to around 7,267 yards

• It has had multiple renovations, but the original design was by the great Harry Colt

• It is tree-lined and heathland

• 17 of the last 20 Wentworth champions had contended before his first win

• Form on other Colt layouts is worth considering

Contenders to Win the BMW PGA Championship

Rory McIlroy (+600) at bet365

First, the good news. Rory McIlroy arrives at the championship off the back of a sensational victory in the Irish Open that was greeted with delirium at The K Club. He is also spending the week in his own bed because he has bought a house at Wentworth. He is even a course winner (in 2014) and a three-time runner-up. The bad news? Just one win in 13 tournament starts.

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Jon Rahm (+600) at bet365

This is just the fourth visit to Wentworth for the big Spaniard and, boy, has he taken to the challenge. He was second on debut in 2019, second again in 2022, and he was fourth in 2023. It’s a remarkably solid log book, and his form isn’t bad either. He’s played 18 times this year, and he missed the cut on his first outing, but has 15 top 12 finishes in his 17 starts since then.

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Tommy Fleetwood (+900) at bet365

The popular Englishman’s form is outstanding with third in the St Jude Championship, fourth in the BMW Championship, and victory in the Tour Championship to land the FedEx Cup. His course form is less stellar. He’s played there 13 times with a best of sixth that he recorded in 2015 and then again in 2023.

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Rai Can Find a Way

When England’s Aaron Rai won for the first time on Europe’s second tier, on the DP World Tour, and then on the PGA Tour, the course was always treelined.

He also has a fine record on the West Course at Wentworth. He was T14 in 2021, second in 2023, and fourth last year.

He missed the cut last time out, but that was a little deceptive: He had a poor first round before a brilliant 65 in round two. 

Before then, he ranked top five for Strokes gained Approach in four straight events, and that’s a key stat this week.

Back him at FanDuel: +3000 to win and +500 top five (and ties).

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Rose Likes a Fast Start

Justin Rose loves a Thursday on the big occasion.

In 20 starts at Augusta National, he’s ended the first round in the top six nine times, including three solo leads, and two shared ones.

He’s ended three of the last four British Opens in the top 10.

And he’s been top 10 after 18 holes of this championship seven times, including in three of his last six starts.

This end-of-summer event revives memories, and he has good ones (winning the St Jude Championship, second in the Masters).

More good vibes will come from all the Ryder Cup chat.

He’s the sort of golfer to ride those waves.

Back him each way in the first round leader market at +4000 with BetMGM.

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Lowry Loves the West Course

The Irishman lost his way in the summer, but he was T13 in the Tour Championship, and ranked second for Strokes Gained Tee to Green last week in the Irish Open.

Now he gets to play on a course that he adores.

He’s played Wentworth 15 times, and only three times has he failed to make the top 20.

Moreover, two of those failures were in his first three appearances on the course, and he’s made the top 20 in his last eight straight starts there.

He was also the championship winner in 2022.

Keep it simple and take the +110 for another top 20 with bet365. 

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How to Watch the BMW PGA Championship

• Tournament: BMW PGA Championship

• Location: West Course, Wentworth, England

• Date: Friday, September 11 - Sunday, September 14

• How to watch: Live coverage on the Golf Channel and NBC, streaming available through Peacock, and on Sky Sports in the UK.