Rising star Ludvig Aberg has set his sights on victory at the BMW PGA Championship after taking a two-shot lead into Sunday’s final round at Wentworth.
Aberg is playing in only his 10th event since turning professional and could leave the Surrey course with his second successive title on the DP World Tour.
But it’s been a dramatic and controversial tournament, with Rory McIlroy labelling the second round a ‘s***show’ after a late finish under lights, while former Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn reportedly clashed with a drunken fan on Friday.
And a fan also abused Scot Bob MacIntyre during the second round, heckling him over a bet the supporter had placed on a rival of the soon-to-be Ryder Cup debutant.
But in the third round, 23-year-old Aberg carded a third round of 66 to reach 16 under par on Saturday. England’s Tommy Fleetwood hit 67 to share second place on 14 under with Scotland’s Connor Syme, who covered the back nine in 31 for a round of 65.
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Masters champion Jon Rahm, who was two over par for the tournament after 21 holes, is four shots off the pace following a 66 which included birdies on the 17th and 18th.
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Aberg’s victory in the European Masters earlier this month earned him a Ryder Cup wildcard from Europe captain Luke Donald hours later.
But he admitted winning the BMW PGA Championship would also be “very high” on his bucket list.
“It is one of the biggest events on the DP World Tour, it’s been like that for a long time,” he said.
“I’ve got memories of Alex (Noren) winning here when he hit an unbelievable shot into 18. It’s really cool to see myself up there, I have to pinch myself in the arm every now and then but it’s quite cool.
“I think expectations just changed after Switzerland in terms of knowing I can do it. Even though I’ve won in college quite a bit it is different, whether you like it or not, to win on the pro stage and it was pretty cool to do that.
“I could tell myself that I could do it and was good enough and hopefully I’ll be able to do that tomorrow too.” Fleetwood will pose a significant challenge to Aberg as he chases a significant victory in front of his home crowd.
The 32-year-old’s impressive round was boosted by an eagle on the fourth hole courtesy of a lesson from Rory McIlroy.
“I had a lesson out of the rough from Rory on Monday when the Ryder Cup team were in Rome,” Fleetwood said.
“I always struggle to get steep on it and I am always chopping out of the rough so he just helped me with a couple of things on how better to do it really.
“It worked a couple of times today. The one with an eight iron on number four was good, it came out perfect and it is a new shot in my locker.”
McIlroy himself rebounded with a five-under third round – including one of the luckiest bounces you’ll ever see – after just making the cut following a dramatic second round.
A birdie on 18 saw him card a 71 on Friday, but he was frustrated after fog delayed play for 80 minutes earlier in the morning, meaning many of the later players finished their round in near darkness and there was a four-group logjam on the final two holes.
The Northern Irishman had to wait until the next morning for rivals to finish their round to know if he would make the cut and play the final two rounds.
“It was a s—show,” McIlroy said after the second round. “The fog obviously delayed things but I’ve never remembered having that many players on 17 and 18. It’s not as if they teed us off in tighter slots or anything.
“It’s hard for me trying to play the last well and make the cut, it’s a bit of a mad dash and a scramble to get finished. I don’t know what you could do about that apart from less players in the field.”
Meanwhile, Thomas Bjorn, the 2018 Ryder Cup captain, was also reportedly caught in a second-round altercation with a drunken fan. Bjorn was seen walking up to confront the fan on the 18th.
And Bob MacIntyre, who will debut in the Ryder Cup in a fortnight, revealed he was badly heckled by a fan who claimed he had a bet against the Scotsman. MacIntyre later said he even told his caddie Greg Milne to watch out in case the fan’s abuse turned physical.
“I was getting a bit of stick up the 17th … this guy told me the amount he had riding on it [the bet],’ MacIntyre said after the second round, where he outscored playing partners Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick. “I said to Greg walking to the 18th tee ‘be switched on as this guy could throw anything at us’.
“There’s obviously gambling going on golf nowadays and some people ride a lot of money on it – and, unfortunately, he lost today. I actually talked about that to someone a few weeks ago, it might even have been Jon [Rahm] about the heckling on the PGA Tour.”
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