Non-LIV Golf members Tommy Fleetwood and Andy Sullivan lead the way after BMW PGA Championship first day as golf’s civil war takes to the course for the first time with 17 rebels at DP World Tour’s flagship event
- Non-LIV Golf stars and rebels were in action at Wentworth, Surrey on Thursday
- Seventeen LIV Golf players are competing at DP World Tour’s flagship event
- England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Andy Sullivan top leaderboard after first day
Stormy weather provided a fitting backdrop for the opening round of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on Thursday where players on both sides of golf’s bitter power struggle were in action on the soggy fairways.
The flagship tournament of the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) has been overshadowed by the presence of 17 golfers who have signed up for the divisive LIV Tour — the Saudi-backed series rocking golf’s status quo.
Northern Ireland’s four-time major champion Rory McIlroy, one of the favorites for the title has pulled no punches in criticizing some of his former Ryder Cup colleagues who have jumped ship for the LIV Tour riches.
He is joined in a strong field by the likes of US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, 2021 Wentworth winner Billy Horschel and Spain’s former US Open winner Jon Rahm, all of whom have had nothing to do with the LIV Tour.
England’s Tommy Fleetwood, another player who is not part of the LIV breakaway tour, topped the leaderboard after Thursday’s opening round with a superb eight-under 64, finishing with four successive birdies and he was joined at the head of the pack by fellow Brit Andy Sullivan.
Tommy Fleetwood topped the scoring after first round alongside fellow Brit Andy Sullivan
Heavy rain poured onto the 17th fairway of the BMW Championship at Wentworth on Day One
Rory McIlroy plays his second shot on the sixth hole amid rainstorms at Wentworth, England
Former Open champion Shane Lowry, who was in the same group as Fleetwood, is two shots off the lead following a bogey-free 66, while Rory McIlroy and defending champion Billy Horschel both shot 68 despite heavy rain showers making conditions difficult.
Of the LIV Tour contingent, Abraham Ancer and Bernd Wiesberger were the highest-placed on four-under.
McIlroy has said it would be ‘hard to stomach’ playing alongside the likes of Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia at Wentworth and re-stated his opposition on Wednesday.
Former Europe Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, a DP World Tour board member, told Sky Sports that those signed up for the LIV Tour should not be playing at Wentworth.
‘They’ve decided to leave the collective that is the European Tour which is a little bit like a trade union where everybody’s in together and then the value of that collective is used to lever and get commercial opportunities,’ he said.
‘Should you leave that collective that’s fine, you go on a different path, but you then shouldn’t be allowed to come back and also play as part of a collective that you left and are actually hurting economically.’
Matthew Jordan, of England, is currently in third place after carding an under-65 score
LIV players, including Spain’s Sergio Garcia, have been allowed to participate at Wentworth
McIlroy said it would be ‘hard to stomach’ playing along LIV golfers like Ian Poulter (pictured)
The LIV Tour, which was launched at the first event near London in June, boasts an eye-popping $255million in prize money — dwarfing what is available on the DP World Tour.
Unlike the powerful PGA Tour, which has suspended players such as Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson for jumping ship, the DP World Tour has not yet followed suit with a court case next year likely to decide whether they can play in both.
McIlroy was at least spared any awkwardness as he was paired for his first round with Fitzpatrick and Horschel in front of large galleries hiding under umbrellas from the heavy showers.
There was no disguising the tension in the air as the LIV Tour signees began their rounds, but McIlroy let his golf do the talking as he opened with a four-under 68.
