European Ryder Cup team members find form early at BMW PGA Championship Day 1

The European Ryder Cup teammates found early form at the BMW PGA Championship on the first day. The Ryder Cup players from the European squad participated in the event held at the Wentworth Club. After the first round of the tournament, some Ryder Cuppers were occupying the top 10 positions on the leaderboard.

Ludvig Aberg was in first place, with a total score of 8 under. Followed by Matt Fitzpatrick, who's at T4 after scoring 6 under, and Justin Rose, who was at T8 after landing his score at 5 under. Viktor Hovland and Shane Lowry also finished at T8.

However, golfers like Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm couldn't make it to the top 20, and currently, McIlroy was at T34 with 3 under in total, and Rahm was at T67 with 1 under.

Currently, as the round progresses, Aberg is in the highest place on the leaderboard among other European Ryder Cup players. The Swede scored 64 in the first round of the tournament with four birdies on the front nine and five birdies on the back nine.

What did the European Ryder Cup captain say at the pre-tournament presser in Bethpage Black?

Luke Donald joined the pre-tournament press conference at Bethpage Black on September 1st and talked about how happy he was to be chosen as the European captain for the second consecutive year. His words were ( via ASAP Sports):

“Two more years. Two more years, they shouted. I can't believe we're back here again. The time has flown by. But it was the greatest privilege of my golfing life to be Ryder Cup Captain in Rome. I've obviously dedicated the last three years now of my life towards this. I understand exactly what the Ryder Cup represents and absolutely delighted to be able to share the next six players that are going to form out our team.”

He continued, “Incredible. Incredible players. Incredible people. You could just go down the line, Rasmus what he did showing such heart and grit to get through automatically. Tyrrell had very limited start to make it automatically. Justin just keeps defining his age and time. It's nice to have Tommy, FedExCup Champion. Rory, obviously a giant, and Bob, we all know what he did two years ago, unbeaten as a rookie. He is a much better player than he was two years ago.”

In the same press conference, Donald also mentioned how Shane Lowry was his first pick for the European team because of his dedication to the team and for making his third consecutive appearance. He further continued that Lowry missed out on the team through automatic qualification by 4 points, but Donald needed Lowry’s energy in the team and hence chose him.

About the author

Suchita Chakraborty is a senior golf writer at Sportskeeda. She did her post-graduation at St. Xavier's University. For a year now, she has developed a riveting inclination toward golf, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy being her top-tier motivational figures to indulge in the sport. She even lives by the words of the Hall of Famer, "You can always become better", which impels her to excel every day. Her strong suit in golf is covering the LPGA Tour, especially the nooks and crannies of the international event, the Solheim Cup. As a pastime amusement, Suchita also engages herself in reading about golf controversies. Her favorite pick is ‘LIV and Let Die’ by Alan Shipnuck, which covers the PGA-LIV beef.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua