ALL BMW NEWS.

The BMW PGA Championship, one of the highlights of the British sporting summer, has teed up its strongest ever player line-up for this year’s six-day event, taking place at the glorious Wentworth Club, in Surrey, between 21 – 26 May.  To celebrate this unmissable sporting occasion, which will see all 12 of Europe’s magnificent ‘Miracle at Medinah’ Ryder Cup Team reunited on European soil for the first time,  BMW has teamed up with The European Tour and Official Clothing Supplier HUGO BOSS to bring a taste of golf to the heart of London. 

The Championship’s ‘Performance Putting Challenge’ – a three-hole mini golf course, incorporating BMW car parts as hazards and obstacles – will be located in one of the most fashionable areas of London; Duke of York Square on the King’s Road. Between Friday 10 and Sunday 12 May visitors to the area will have the opportunity to put their putting skills to the test, with chances to win prizes from BMW, The European Tour and HUGO BOSS, ranging from highly sought after event tickets to a BMW M3 sport convertible children’s car.

The ‘Challenge’ itself will be launched by 2006 BMW PGA Champion and two-time Ryder Cup winner David Howell, on Friday (10 May). In addition to tackling the three-hole ‘Performance Putting Challenge’, the popular Englishman will be back at Wentworth from 21 May, competing for this year’s BMW PGA Championship.  

The ‘Performance Putting Challenge’ is located close to HUGO BOSS’ flagship store in Sloane Square, where the front window has been given a distinctive BMW PGA Championship look and feel. Throughout the month of May, the store window will feature a BMW M6 convertible and a display dedicated to the European Tour’s premier event.

Jamie Birkmyre, Championship Director of the BMW PGA Championship, , Peter Walker, General Manager of BMW Sports Marketing and Bernd Hake, Managing Director of HUGO BOSS UK, recently came together for a photocall to launch the HUGO BOSS BMW PGA Championship window display. 

Looking ahead to the ‘Performance Putting Challenge’ in Duke of York Square, Peter Walker said: “This is a fun event, for both adults and children alike, bringing a taste of golf and the BMW PGA Championship to London. Whether you are golfing expert or novice, the ‘Performance Putting Challenge’ is all about having a go and introducing golf, albeit mini golf, to new audiences.  Throughout the three days in Duke of York Square there will be opportunities to win tickets to the championship and I would highly recommend a visit the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.  It really is a fantastic tournament to kick-start the British Sporting Summer.”

Speaking shortly after the launch of the window display, Bernd Hake added: “HUGO BOSS is delighted to be partnering with Wentworth and BMW. Our unique Sloane Square window installation is the perfect way to illustrate our union in the run up to the PGA arriving at Wentworth late May. HUGO BOSS has a long-standing relationship with the golfing world and through our BOSS Green range we ally ourselves with a selection of high profile golfers, including Martin Kaymer. Linking with BMW reflects this passion, and is an equally aspirational and prestigious brand. We look forward to seeing reactions to the window display, which is already turning heads!”

The BMW PGA Championship, The European Tour’s flagship event, has this year announced a record prize fund of €4.75 million, an increase of €250,000 on last year.  The action starts with the Practice round on Tuesday 21 May, followed by the star-studded Celebrity Pro-Am day on Wednesday 22 with the tournament running between Thursday 23 and Sunday 26 May.  

Jamie Birkmyre said: “The BMW PGA Championship is the only international golfing event in England this year, so this is the only opportunity to see your golfing heroes in action, including the European Ryder Cup Team, re-united for the first time since the Miracle at Medinah. It is an exceptional day out, in the most magnificent of settings, for golf enthusiasts and families alike. There really is something for everybody, with a superb package of fun, celebrity-spotting and world class golf taking place over a six-day period.” 

Advance tickets are selling fast on www.europeantour.com/tickets while reserved grandstand seating at the 18th green and limited on-site parking are already sold out. Children aged 16 and under will be admitted free of charge if accompanied by an adult ticket holder. 

BMW Owners and Official Badge Holders will be able to park on site as in previous years, while pre-paid parking on Wentworth Estate is now completely sold out. All other ticket holders – and spectators turning up on the day to purchase tickets on the gate – will need to utilise a sophisticated Park and Ride system, being introduced this year to help facilitate the flow of traffic.

The new Park and Ride system will operate from two locations – one near Sunningdale, carrying traffic from the West (M3 and M4) and one at the Review Ground, Windsor Great Park, which is East of the tournament venue close to the M25. Both parks will operate free shuttle bus service to Wentworth Club every five minutes with the journey time taking around ten minutes and allowing easy access to a new Welcome Pavilion through the Tented Village. 

Please click the link below to follow all the news on our golf activities.

Sky Sports will show continuous live coverage of all four days of the flagship event of the European Tour, the BMW PGA Championship, from Thursday 23 May – Sunday 26 May. 

Viewers can follow each day’s play through the day like they do at a Major with coverage starting at 10am and going through to 6pm on days one and two, and starting at 12.30pm and going through to 5.30pm on days three and four.   Live coverage will be available in HD and includes innovations including Pro-Tracer allowing viewers to see the arc of the ball in flight from the players’ tee shots, and Pro-Green which displays the graphic lines on putt on key greens.

Sky viewers can see what happened at the players’ dinner in a special programme to be shown on Wednesday evening at 1130pm on Sky Sports 2HD, and highlights of the Pro-Am event will be shown prior to live coverage of day one, on Thursday morning at 9.30am on Sky Sports 1HD.

Presenter David Livingstone will be joined in the studio by guests throughout the championship/event including Colin Montgomerie. Commentary will be provided by Ewen Murray, Bruce Critchley, Mark Roe, and Howard Clark.  And Tim Barter, Wayne Riley and Richard Boxall will report from the across the famous West course.

LIVE coverage details are as follows:

Thursday 23 May, Day One

10:00 – 18:00 Sky Sports 1HD

Friday 24 May, Day Two

10:00 – 18:00 Sky Sports 2HD

Saturday 25 May, Day Three

12:30 – 17:30 Sky Sports 2 HD

Sunday 26 May, Day Four

12:30 – 17:30 Sky Sports 2 HD

Europe’s magnificent Ryder Cup Team, which will forever be associated with the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ last year, will be reunited for the first time on European soil since that dramatic day in Chicago when all 12 players and their captain José Maria Olazábal tee up in the BMW PGA Championship 2013.

The West Course at Wentworth Club will be the stage for golf fans to enjoy a belated celebration of that epic comeback when the ‘twelve good men and true’ attempt to capture The European Tour’s flagship event in front of another huge crowd from May 23-26.

Led by World Number Two, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, and defending champion, Luke Donald of England, who is seeking to emulate Colin Montgomerie’s record of three consecutive victories, the Ryder Cup heroes and their inspiring leader, Olazábal, should guarantee a sense of excitement and electrifying atmosphere at the Surrey venue.

Winning captain Olazábal welcomed the news that his team will assemble once more at Wentworth Club and commented: “I am delighted that the British public will get the chance to see all of my Ryder Cup team in action at Wentworth in May. Medinah was an unforgettable experience for everyone who was there, whether it was as a player, captain or spectator, and the BMW PGA Championship is the perfect setting for the players to be reunited to show what they can do as individuals as opposed to the team environment. It promises to be a great tournament.”

McIlroy is relishing the chance to get together with his team-mates again, even though, on this occasion, they are intense rivals chasing the record first prize of €791,660 from the increased prize fund of €4.75 million.  

“It will be great to have The Ryder Cup Team back together for the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth”, he said. “It was such a special Ryder Cup, one that will have a special place in history, and I don’t think anyone associated with that Team will ever get tired of celebrating it.”

McIlroy’s fellow Northern Irishman and Major champion, Graeme McDowell, added: “Any time the Tour gets a winning Ryder Cup Team together is pretty special, but this year will have that little bit extra because of the nature in which that particular Ryder Cup was won. To be a part Europe’s biggest ever comeback was just an amazing honour, and I am sure there will be nice Ryder Cup vibe to the BMW PGA Championship this year.”

Justin Rose, who lost to Anders Hansen in a play-off in 2007 and was tied second with another of the Medinah marvel, Paul Lawrie, last year, enthused: “The BMW PGA is one of the best tournaments of the year and, for European Tour Members, it’s our big show, the one where we display what our Tour is all about so it’s one that I think every player has an eye on throughout the year and one that we all get going for.”

Ryder Cup rookie Nicolas Colsaerts can’t wait for the chance to get together with his fellow history-makers in May. He said: “It’s going to be cool to have the Team back together. The way golf is nowadays and with everybody playing all over the world, it’s pretty rare to get all of the guys together so to have us all in one place at the home of The European Tour will be great. “

Heroes of Medinah abound, from the talismanic Ian Poulter to BMW Ambassador, Martin Kaymer, who holed the vital putt which ensured Europe retained the trophy, will be back at Wentworth Club aiming to add the BMW PGA title to the BMW International Open crown he claimed in 2008.

Also lapping up the superb atmosphere created by the Tour’s flagship event will be Francesco Molinari – whose half point secured the outright win – six-time Ryder Cup winner Lee Westwood, former Open Champion Paul Lawrie and Sweden’s Peter Hanson while there is sure to be a special ‘welcome back’ to Sergio Garcia, who last competed in the event in 2000.

A superb package of fun, celebrity-spotting and world class golf will take place over a six-day period, from May 21-26, representing outstanding value for practice day, celebrity pro-am day and the four rounds of the event.

Advance tickets are selling fast on www.europeantour.com/tickets while reserved grandstand seating at the 18^th green and limited on-site parking are already sold out. A limited number of additional grandstand seats for Saturday and Sunday are now on sale on a first come, first served basis. Children aged 16 and under will be admitted free of charge if accompanied by an adult ticket holder.

This year sees the introduction of a new Park and Ride system to help facilitate the flow of traffic. The system will operate from two locations – one near Sunningdale, carrying traffic from the West (M3 and M4) and one at the Review Ground, Windsor Great Park, which is East of the tournament venue close to the M25. Both parks will operate free shuttle bus service to Wentworth Club every five minutes with the journey time taking around ten minutes and allowing easy access to a new Welcome Pavilion through the Tented Village.

To follow all the news on BMW golf activities, please click the link below. 

We are very much looking forward to the M Festival 2013 taking place in the course of the 24h Race at the Nurburgring. 

Just as last year, we are offering all participants a unique experience filled with emotions around the “most powerful letter of the world”. Numerous motorsport enthusiastic BMW M fans will enjoy a breathtaking race from the best areas at the Nurburgring.

As a starting shot the participants can expect a top-class M Corso. Up to 200 BMW M drivers get the unique chance to dip into the world of motorsport while driving around the legendary Nordschleife. During the subsequent M Night, we invite all guests to get in the mood for a racing weekend with the BMW M family and experience the newest M models at first hand. 

The weekend’s main event follows on Sunday – with the long distance classic in the ‘Green Hell’. From the weatherproof BMW M Club Gallery, located right at the entry to the Nordschleife, the race can be followed excellently. Who prefers to overview the start and finish line as well as the pit lane better visits the highest point at the Nurburgring: the BMW M Lounge in the TÜV Tower. During guided garage tours through the pits of the BMW teams, the participants receive an exclusive glimpse behind the scenes.

With the third M Festival, taking place from 18th-20th May 2013, we again offer our customers and fans the opportunity to enjoy a weekend filled with adrenaline and the smell of petrol in the M Community. 

- Entrance ticket to the 24h Race 

- Exclusive access to all M Festival areas

- Catering (all meals and drinks as part of the M Festival included)

- M Night

- M Parking

- Shuttle between the M Festival areas

- Raffle with exclusive prizes 

- M Corso (limited spots available, own BMW M automobile required) 

- Garage tours (limited spots available)

- and many further highlights …

The ticket price for the entire 3-day M Festival is €479.- incl. VAT.

One Festival, one community, one team. We are looking forward to welcoming you.

Further information and the possibility of booking can be found by clicking the link below.

Italian Ryder Cup star Francesco Molinari, representing the Tour Players’ Foundation, the charitable arm of The European Tour, and title partner BMW, today took time off from his Masters preparation to help with the announcement of Shooting Star CHASE as the Official Charity of the 2013 BMW PGA Championship.

Molinari, who will be at Augusta National next week for the Masters Tournament, visited Shooting Star CHASE’s hospice in Hampton, Middlesex, to meet some of the Children and staff of the charity who will hope to benefit from a series of fund-raising initiatives before and during the Tour’s flagship event at Wentworth Club from May 23-26.

The three time European Tour champion, who claimed the vital half point against Tiger Woods to secure The Ryder Cup for Europe in the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ last September, was delighted to assist with the official launch of the charitable aspects of the Championship.

The appointment of Shooting Star CHASE was led by the Tour Players’ Foundation (TPF) board of Trustees who look to support charities local to venues of European Tour’s events and offer the opportunity of ‘Changing children’s lives through golf’.

Shooting Star CHASE is the children's hospice service, supporting families with a child or teenager not expected to reach their 19th birthday.  Shooting Star CHASE currently helps over 600 families living in western London, Surrey and West Sussex.  

The charity provides care free of charge 365 days a year within the families own homes and community and at their two children’s hospices. 

Both of their hospices are within 20 miles of Wentworth Club - Christopher’s in Guildford and Shooting Star House, Hampton, where today’s launch took place.

Shooting Star CHASE provide families support for every step of their journey, sharing the good times, and helping them through the tough times with practical, nursing and emotional support. 

Among the services offered are: planned short breaks at Christopher’s and Shooting Star House; Hospice at Home care; day care, education and special activities; family support and therapies; symptom management and paediatric palliative care; short notice support for families in a crisis; care at the end of a child’s life and bereavement care and support for all the family.

Molinari expressed his delight at supporting such a deserving charity. He said: “When I see the devastating illnesses afflicting so many young children and their families, it hits home just how fortunate I am to be playing professional golf for a living.

“I am delighted that Shooting Star CHASE is the Official Charity of the BMW PGA Championship this year and we all hope that a large sum of money can be raised from the tournament initiatives to provide the care required for the sick children and their families.”

The main fundraising mechanic during the week of the Championship will involve the Official Programme and Drawsheet of the Championship with each and every spectator being able to show their support of Shooting Star CHASE by making the suggested donation of £1 in exchange for the Programme which will be distributed at various points around the tournament sites by Shooting Star CHASE staff and volunteers.

Jamie Birkmyre, Championship Director of the BMW PGA Championship, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Shooting Stars CHASE in this year’s fund raising activities at the BMW PGA Championship. As well as having both their Hospices, including Shooting Star House in Middlesex , not far from in close proximity to the tournament venue, SSC is a superb vehicle for providing the best possible care for very ill children and their families. We hope that, through our various initiatives, including the Programme and Drawsheet donation, the BMW PGA Championship can raise substantial funds for a very deserving cause.”

Alex Rennie, Head of Corporate and Trusts Fundraising, Shooting Stars CHASE, commented: “We are thrilled that Shooting Star CHASE has been given this fantastic opportunity to raise not only funds but much needed awareness of our work. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the sun will be shining and that spectators will show their support of the championship, and Shooting Star CHASE, by visiting our programme booths across the site.”