Golf News: On Sunday, Shane Lowry won the BMW PGA Championship by a slim margin, capping up a weekend at Wentworth dedicated to honouring the life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Following the announcement of The Queen’s passing by Buckingham Palace on Thursday evening, the tournament was immediately put on hold. Play on Friday was also cancelled before the DP World Tour event, which had been shortened to 54 holes, started on Saturday morning at Wentworth.
The declaration of King Charles III was shown on screens in the Championship Village as a two-minute moment of quiet was observed at 9.50 am on Saturday. Staff, caddies, and players joined DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley on the putting green in front of the first tee.
“This has been a very emotional week with the passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, not just for everyone in the UK but across the entire Commonwealth,” Pelley said during the trophy presentation to Lowry on Sunday.
“There was a lot of discussion on Friday about whether we should play the BMW PGA Championship this weekend, but we genuinely felt we should.
“It gave everyone connected with this tournament the opportunity to come together, not only to express their condolences publicly to the Royal Family but also to celebrate the life of a truly extraordinary monarch.”
Lowry concurred with the choice to carry on competing after his triumph.
“It’s been a sad week for everyone here in this country and around the world. What Queen Elizabeth II represented was amazing. She was an amazing woman and I was happy the golf went ahead because I felt like it should be a celebration of her life and I think that’s what we had this weekend here at Wentworth and I think it was pretty special.”
The event should have continued into the weekend, according to Sky Sports analyst Paul McGinley.
He said: “It’s one of those moments in time in all of our lives that we will never forget because of the circumstances of the week and The Queen passing.
