Surprise after the first half of BMW PGA Championship 2023

When the BMW PGA Championship 2023 ended the second round on the par72 course at Wentworth Golf Club in London on September 15, Aberg and fellow Swede Soderberg ranked T1, at -10. Soderberg finished the previous match, reaching -10 thanks to birdie on hole 17 and eagle on hole 18. These two holes were both par5. Aberg followed, scoring a series of three birdies at the end of the match to share the lead with his compatriot.

Aberg is 23 years old and has only played professionally since June, while Soderberg is 32 years old and has "turned pro" since 2013. Two weeks ago, Aberg held the cup for the first time on the DP World Tour, at the Omega European Masters. This is also the title that Soderberg won in 2019 and is also unique in his current achievements in the first-class European men's golf arena.

When entering the BMW Championship, Aberg ranked 91st in the world, 85 places higher than Soderberg. After two rounds with a score of -10, both ranked above many PGA Tour and DP World Tour stars, such as Tommy Fleetwood -9 (T3), Tyrell Hatton -7 (T10), Jon Rahm -6 (T16), Viktor Hovland -5 (T25), Rory McIlroy -1 and just barely passed the cut.

These are Aberg's teammates at the 2023 Ryder Cup match with the US at Marco Simone Stadium, Rome, Italy later this month.

Yesterday, McIlroy escaped elimination at the filter point thanks to a birdie at hole 18, after putting the ball 12 meters from the target in the second shot and then putting the hole in to putt from close range when it was dusk.

That result helped the owner of four majors in 24 PGA Tour cups win the entire BMW PGA Championship this term. In the 2014 tournament, he set a championship mark of -14, just one stroke ahead of runner-up Shane Lowry. This year, Lowry passed halfway and stood T31 (-4).

The BMW PGA Championship was born in 1955 and has been a key event on the DP World Tour since 1990.