Matt Fitzpatrick trails in the BMW PGA Championship to Marcus Helligkilde
Matt Fitzpatrick leads the members of the European team to the Ryder Cup after the first round of the BMW PGA Championship. However, the headlines were made by Denmark's Marcus Helligkilde, who is two strokes ahead of Fitzpatrick in first place.
Marcus Helligkilde, ranked 232nd in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), started his first day at the BMW PGA Championship on full throttle. After a bogey on the third hole, he strung together four consecutive birdies and another on the ninth to leave the front nine with just 31 strokes.
Helligkilde kept up the pace on the back nine. He birdied the 11th and 12th holes and bogeyed the 14th to close flawlessly with three consecutive birdies on the 16th. His round of 64 equaled his lowest of the season on the DP World Tour, which he shot just two weeks ago at the Omega European Masters.
Marcus Helligkilde is looking for his first DP World Tour victory. His best result at this level is a runner-up finish at the 2023 Korea Championship. He has three Challenge Tour wins, all in 2021.
Matt Fitzpatrick also played a great first round at the BMW PGA Championship. He made only two bogeys, but two fewer birdies than the Dane. Fitzpatrick finished tied for second with Scotland's Richie Ramsay (6-under 66), with one bogey and seven birdies.
The first round was sealed by darkness. Early Friday morning, 10 players will have to finish their round before the second day begins.
Rayder Cup European team at the BMW PGA Championship
After Matt Fitzpatrick, the top-ranked members of the European Ryder Cup team were 'rookie sensation' Ludvig Aberg and Tyrrell Hatton, who both tied for 12th.
Aberg made seven birdies (five in a row), one bogey and one double bogey. Hatton also looked good with five birdies and only one bogey.
Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and Viktor Hovland (-3) finished the round on T21. Sepp Straka is on T32 (-2), where he is joined by his captain Luke Donald.
Far from the top positions are Jon Rahm (T46, -1), Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Robert Macintyre (T65, E), and Nicolai Hojgaard (T123, 4).
The vice-captains competing in the BMW PGA Championship also finished the first round far from the top positions. Nicolas Colsaerts is T65, Edoardo Molinari is T84, and his brother Franchesco finished T111. Thomas Bjorn, meanwhile, came in T98.