What a day for Matthew Baldwin at the BMW PGA Championship! Tucked away in the leafy environs of the Wentworth Club, Baldwin, who’s usually a bit of a dark horse, dazzled the crowd with a scintillating seven-under-par 65 to nab the top spot on the leaderboard.
Now, at 38, Baldwin isn’t the new kid on the block, but you wouldn’t guess it from his performance.
He sailed through the round without a hitch, marking his best start since the 2018 season and ending the day just a notch above Denmark’s Niklas Nørgaard and Belgium’s Thomas Detry.
Nørgaard, the Dane with a knack for the English greens, had earlier set a challenging target of six under, adding a touch of drama to the day.
The leaderboard was bustling with talent as eleven players, including big names like Rory McIlroy and Ryder Cup favourites like Shane Lowry, parked themselves just two strokes behind Baldwin.
Not to be overlooked, defending champ Ryan Fox scraped together a one-under, and Hurly Long of Germany jazzed up the scene with a hole-in-one that sent ripples through the crowd.
Baldwin’s polished play and calm demeanour have certainly set the stage for a riveting tournament.
It’s a joy to watch him swing with such precision and grace—truly, a master at work as the chase heats up behind him.
Matthew Baldwin: It was lovely. I feel like my game is pretty strong for a while, and to actually put it into a performance is nice, a nice positive.
I struggle with it a little bit, especially first-tee nerves. Actually, it was quite quiet when I teed off but at the end of the day, to stand on the first tee and hit a good tee shot feels great.
I think keeping my patience levels up. 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.
