BMW PGA Championship: Five Contenders For The Title
By Matt Coles
Francesco Molinari
The second part of that infamous partnership at the 2018 Ryder Cup was Italian Francesco Molinari, who created a great bond with Fleetwood in Paris last September.
The Italian is the reigning BMW PGA Championship titleholder, having won at Wentworth by two shots from Rory McIlroy in 2018 to claim his first title of the year.
He followed it up with a wonderful victory at the British Open to take home his first major championship. Molinari won by two shots from a gaggle of players, having come from three shots back in the final round.
He went on to also win the Race to Dubai last year, ahead of his good friend Fleetwood, at the final event of the season, the DP World Tour Championship.
2018 also saw Molinari become the first player ever to win five points out of five at a Ryder Cup, as he won all of his matches at Golf National in Paris, as Europe went on to take the victory.
Molinari will return to Wentworth looking to become only the second player to retain the BMW PGA title this century after Luke Donald did so in 2011 and 2012.
The Italian also finished runner-up in 2017, and he will be alongside Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry in one of the most-followed groups out on the course for the first two days.