The European Tour PGA Championship has crowned many of the men who fueled the Continent’s return to golf prominence: Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer and Seve Ballesteros were all multiple winners. More recently, the title has been elusive for several of the tour’s top contemporaries. Count Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke and Justin Rose among them, with a combined six runner-up finishes. The tour’s flagship event begins Thursday at the Wentworth Club’s West Course in Surrey, England, about 30 miles southwest of London. Jeff Shain
Rory McIlroy
Dispirited by his inability to mount a Sunday charge at the Masters, McIlroy returns to Europe looking to regain the positive momentum he had going into Augusta.