Ernie Els believes there will be a birdie bonanza when the European Tour’s best field of 2012 does battle at the BMW PGA Championship this week, with the South African at 33/1 with bookmaker to win the event.
The top three golfers in the world – Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood will lead a star-studded field at Wentworth and, with the weather forecast good for the event, Els is expecting some strong scores.
The 42-year-old has been involved major changes to the Surrey venue’s West Course over the last five years which have not always been well received – with people suggesting the course is now too difficult.
However Els believes it is a fine course at Wentworth and is looking forward to the challenge.
He told the European Tour’s website: “The scoring is going to be better. I think 14, 16 under is going to be the winning score again. Hopefully we will have more smiling faces from the players this year.
“I think it is going to be a great finishing hole again.
“There’s water, and so there’s risk and reward. You can make an eagle there now, you can make a six now. You can bail-out and make a five out of the bunkers or up and down it for birdie. So I think it is a great finishing hole again now.”