Matthew Baldwin signed for a flawless 7-under 65 to take a one-shot lead at the BMW PGA Championship, one of only two players to stay bogey-free at Wentworth Club.
The Englishman holds the first round lead for the first time since the 2018 Soudal Open.
“It was lovely. I feel like my game has been pretty strong for a while and to actually put it into a performance is nice, a nice positive,” said Baldwin.
“I stayed patient. I got off to a good start which obviously then you gain momentum. I holed a few nice putts and I hit it close when I needed to.
“It’s definitely been coming. My game’s been strong for a while, results haven’t always shown that and I’m quite good at getting in the way of myself. I think today I’ve tried to be as calm and positive as I could.
“It’s great, this is the tournament as players we all look forward to. It’s a great week on and off the golf course. It’s a pleasure to be here.
“I’ve proved I can shoot a good number and hopefully let’s do it again.”
Dane Niklas Nørgaard and Belgian Thomas Detry are tied in second place at 6-under one shot ahead of a group of eleven players, among them Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy.
Related: Why the BMW PGA Championship is vitally important to golf in England
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BALDWIN, Matthew | -7 | 65 |
| 2 | NORGAARD, Niklas | -6 | 66 |
| | DETRY, Thomas | -6 | 66 |
| 4 | MANASSERO, Matteo | -5 | 67 |
| | MACINTYRE, Robert | -5 | 67 |
| | LOWRY, Shane | -5 | 67 |
| | MCILROY, Rory | -5 | 67 |
| | PEREZ, Victor | -5 | 67 |
| | COUSSAUD, Ugo | -5 | 67 |
| | KO, Jeong weon | -5 | 67 |
| 4 | SULLIVAN, Andy | -5 | 67 |
| | HORSCHEL, Billy | -5 | 67 |
| | BRADBURY, Dan | -5 | 67 |
| | ARMITAGE, Marcus | -5 | 67 |
| 15 | HUBBARD, Mark | -4 | 68 |
| | WILLETT, Danny | -4 | 68 |
| | SCRIVENER, Jason | -4 | 68 |
| | RAI, Aaron | -4 | 68 |
| | LAWRENCE, Thriston | -4 | 68 |
| | DEAN, Joe | -4 | 68 |
| | SCHMID, Matti | -4 | 68 |
| | FORREST, Grant | -4 | 68 |
| 23 | BJÖRK, Alexander | -3 | 69 |
| | ROSE, Justin | -3 | 69 |
| | HALL, Harry | -3 | 69 |
| KINHULT, Marcus | -3 | 69 | |
| | SÖDERBERG, Sebastian | -3 | 69 |
| | NOREN, Alex | -3 | 69 |
| | FLEETWOOD, Tommy | -3 | 69 |
| | KIM, Si Woo | -3 | 69 |
| | ROZNER, Antoine | -3 | 69 |
| | WINTHER, Jeff | -3 | 69 |
| | VAN DRIEL, Darius | -3 | 69 |
| | GAVINS, Daniel | -3 | 69 |
| 35 | VEERMAN, Johannes | -2 | 70 |
| | SORDET, Clément | -2 | 70 |
| | LONG, Hurly | -2 | 70 |
| | WILSON, Oliver | -2 | 70 |
| | MCKIBBIN, Tom | -2 | 70 |
| | SMITH, Jordan | -2 | 70 |
| | BACHEM, Nick | -2 | 70 |
| | HILL, Calum | -2 | 70 |
| | COCKERILL, Aaron | -2 | 70 |
| | LI, Haotong | -2 | 70 |
| | PEPPERELL, Eddie | -2 | 70 |
| | CABRERA BELLO, Rafa | -2 | 70 |
| | VÄLIMÄKI, Sami | -2 | 70 |
| | WALLACE, Matt | -2 | 70 |
| | OTAEGUI, Adrian | -2 | 70 |
| | GUMBERG, Jordan | -2 | 70 |
| SOUTHGATE, Matthew | -2 | 70 | |
| | CROCKER, Sean | -2 | 70 |
| | DANTORP, Jens | -2 | 70 |
| 54 | SCHNEIDER, Marcel | -1 | 71 |
| | WIEBE, Gunner | -1 | 71 |
| | WHITNELL, Dale | -1 | 71 |
| | FERGUSON, Ewen | -1 | 71 |
| | SCOTT, Adam | -1 | 71 |
| | STRAKA, Sepp | -1 | 71 |
| | SVENSSON, Jesper | -1 | 71 |
| | FOX, Ryan | -1 | 71 |
| | HARRINGTON, Padraig | -1 | 71 |
| | MOLINARI, Edoardo | -1 | 71 |
| | PAUL, Yannik | -1 | 71 |
| | LUITEN, Joost | -1 | 71 |
| | KIEFFER, Maximilian | -1 | 71 |
| | ZANOTTI, Fabrizio | -1 | 71 |
| | RAMSAY, Richie | -1 | 71 |
| | HIDALGO, Angel | -1 | 71 |
| | LAW, David | -1 | 71 |
| | LARRAZÁBAL, Pablo | -1 | 71 |
| | CLEMENTS, Todd | -1 | 71 |
| | NEMECZ, Lukas | -1 | 71 |
| | WARING, Paul | -1 | 71 |
| 75 | DEL REY, Alejandro | Par | 72 |
| | GUERRIER, Julien | Par | 72 |
| | LACROIX, Frederic | Par | 72 |
| | FRITTELLI, Dylan | Par | 72 |
| | ELVIRA, Nacho | Par | 72 |
| | PAVON, Matthieu | Par | 72 |
| | WIESBERGER, Bernd | Par | 72 |
| | BAIRSTOW, Sam | Par | 72 |
| | HILLIER, Daniel | Par | 72 |
| | BROWN, Daniel | Par | 72 |
| | PAVAN, Andrea | Par | 72 |
| | DONALD, Luke | Par | 72 |
| | HØJGAARD, Rasmus | Par | 72 |
| | HØJGAARD, Nicolai | Par | 72 |
| | FITZPATRICK, Matt | Par | 72 |
| | SIEM, Marcel | Par | 72 |
| | LANGASQUE, Romain | Par | 72 |
| 92 | JOHNSTON, Andrew | +1 | 73 |
| | CAMPILLO, Jorge | +1 | 73 |
| | OLESEN, Thorbjørn | +1 | 73 |
| | FORSSTRÖM, Simon | +1 | 73 |
| | TARRIO, Santiago | +1 | 73 |
| | FITZPATRICK, Alex | +1 | 73 |
| | HOSHINO, Rikuya | +1 | 73 |
| | AN, Byeong Hun | +1 | 73 |
| | SHINKWIN, Callum | +1 | 73 |
| 101 | SCHAPER, Jayden | +2 | 74 |
| | COETZEE, George | +2 | 74 |
| | HARDING, Justin | +2 | 74 |
| | HISATSUNE, Ryo | +2 | 74 |
| | RAVETTO, David | +2 | 74 |
| | THORNTON, Simon | +2 | 74 |
| | SADDIER, Adrien | +2 | 74 |
| | HUIZING, Daan | +2 | 74 |
| | MORRISON, James | +2 | 74 |
| | ARNAUS, Adri | +2 | 74 |
| | MIGLIOZZI, Guido | +2 | 74 |
| | SYME, Connor | +2 | 74 |
| | WU, Ashun | +2 | 74 |
| 114 | SHARMA, Shubhankar | +3 | 75 |
| | JAMIESON, Scott | +3 | 75 |
| | FISHER, Ross | +3 | 75 |
| 117 | DE JAGER, Louis | +4 | 76 |
| | MALNATI, Peter | +4 | 76 |
| | JORDAN, Matthew | +4 | 76 |
| | GREEN, Gavin | +4 | 76 |
| | KATSURAGAWA, Yuto | +4 | 76 |
| 122 | HANNA, Chase | +5 | 77 |
| | MANSELL, Richard | +5 | 77 |
| 124 | STRYDOM, Ockie | +6 | 78 |
| 125 | KNAPPE, Alexander | +7 | 79 |
| | MOLINARI, Francesco | +7 | 79 |
