Matthew Baldwin shot a day-one 65 and will enter the second round of the BMW PGA Championship holding a one-shot lead over Niklas Norgaard and Thomas Detry.
The Englishman opened with four birdies on Nos. 2, 4, 6 and 9 to turn on 31 at Wentworth. He closed with three more gains on 13, 16 and 18 to reach 7-under par.
“Yeah, it was lovely,” said Baldwin, 38, a one-time winner on the DP World Tour. “I feel like my game is pretty strong for a while, and to actually put it into a performance is nice – a nice positive.”
He added, “I was fortunate that I got off to a good start, and the greens were good. So you could hole putts. It wasn’t the case of having to hit it stone dead to make birdies.
“You know, there were some tucked pins that you had to be careful and things, and miss it in the right spots, and I think I did that pretty well.”
Bogey-free! ????#BMWPGA | #RolexSeries https://t.co/uwxRsAhL9R pic.twitter.com/NR4XI5XIoe
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 19, 2024
Norgaard and Detry carded matching scores of 6-under 66 to sit T2.
Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Robert MacIntyre, and Billy Horschel were among a group of nine players tied on 5-under 67.
BMW PGA Championship
Top 10: Leaderboard
1. Matthew Baldwin -7 (65)
2. Niklas Norgaard -6 (66)
2. Thomas Detry -6 (66)
4. Rory McIlroy -5 (67)
4. Shane Lowry -5 (67)
4. Robert MacIntyre -5 (67)
4. Billy Horschel -5 (67)
4. Matteo Manassero -5 (67)
4. Victor Perez -5 (67)
4. Ugo Coussaud -5 (67)
4. Marcus Armitage -5 (67)
4. Dan Bradbury -5 (67)
