Golf:Ross Fisher knew he was facing a very different Wentworth to the one on which he closed with a 64 and finished second to Paul Casey last year, but he was still off to a fine start in the BMW PGA Championship today.
Fisher is a product of the scholarship scheme at the English course — also the headquarters of the European Tour — and after a superb bunker shot saved the 29-year-old his par at the difficult first he then fired in his tee shot to within six feet of the flag at the short second.
Sinking the birdie putt took him one behind early pacesetter Peter Hedblom, the Swede ranked 179th in the world picking up shots at the fourth and fifth.
Fisher shared second spot with former winners Anders Hansen and David Howell, who since his 2006 victory has slumped to 415th in the world, Spanish Open champion Alvaro Quiros, Italian Edoardo Molinari and Scot Peter Whiteford.
Ernie Els, whose second redesign of the famous West Course is a topic of much debate this week, parred the first three holes, but Ian Poulter flew right into the trees with his second shot of the day and bogeyed.