European Tour Insider: Strong field at Wentworth

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Ernie Els oversaw the dramatic renovations at the West Course at Wentworth, site of this week's BMW PGA.

Five of the world's top 10 will compete this week at the European Tour's flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. It's a mark of the increased stature of the Tour's members that this is arguably the strongest field ever assembled for the event.

The new world No. 3 Lee Westwood, Ernie Els, Ian Poulter, Rory McIlroy and title-holder Paul Casey all are competing along with the three-time major champion Padraig Harrington. That's significant, because the latter has side-stepped the tournament in the past, not enamored with the greens at this time of the year.

The West Course at Wentworth has undergone a huge redevelopment, though. Forget facelift, this is a tummy tuck, nose job, Botox, and laser-eye surgery combined. This is pretty much a total transformation.

All 18 greens have been re-modeled, many of them elevated, and critically a different grass -- colonial bentgrass -- has been employed to prevent the unevenness we've often seen in late spring.

Harrington's now a fan, saying "I'm really impressed with the changes, and I'm happy to see the way the greens are now putting. Once I heard they were going to re-model the greens, I said I'd be one of the first there."

Visually, the most stunning changes have been made to the last hole. Ernie Els oversaw renovations to the Harry Colt design back in 2006, and he's been instrumental in these dramatic alterations, getting his way to place an attractive, but treacherous burn in front of the 18th green. He's proud of the developments, and a little nervous about reactions and about how he'll master his own design. He makes no apology for giving the course back its teeth.

"Players will have a little bit of a shock. They will find a way to score around here," he said. "Maybe in 20 years' time Rory McIlroy or somebody can come and re-design it again. It will just keep on evolving."

Oliver Wilson -- beaten in a play off here by Miguel Angel Jimenez two years ago -- has paid a visit, and given the thumbs up on his Twitter page.

He thinks spectators will be rewarded by camping out at the eighth, but added, "I think it's safe to say you can wave goodbye to the famous 3,3,3 Wentworth finish," he says.

HANSON AT THE DOUBLE

Peter Hanson goes into the PGA Championship on the back of a remarkable win in Mallorca.

He was one of the best-ranked players at the Iberdrola Open Cala Millor Mallorca at Pula Golf Club, but was under the radar much of the week, especially given that he was 4 over through eight holes of the first day.

Before claiming his third Tour title in a playoff, though, the Swede had to recover from trial by television.

He felt he'd made a straightforward par at the 12th in the final round but TV technology showed otherwise. The exceptional slow-mo now being used showed that in fact Hanson had struck his ball twice in making one shot. A one-stroke penalty resulted.

Hanson didn't dispute the ruling, but it certainly surprised him: "I've hit double shots before," he said explaining they've usually been getting under the ball in a lob-shot, and hitting again on the way up. But this time he didn't feel a thing.

"I hit it good, but it went down into the grass, then popped up and about half an inch after I hit it, I caught it again."

He admires the technology that brought the mishap to light. These cameras are fantastic, and if it hadn't been on camera, it would never have been an extra shot," Hanson said.

At least he was informed of the penalty before completing the closing holes and signing his card. Hanson subsequently broke Spanish hearts by defeating Alejandro Canizares at the first extra hole. It's Hanson's second victory in Spain.

CANIZARES CONSOLATION

Canizares, a graduate of Arizona State and the NCAA champion in 2003, can take some solace in a third top-10 finish in a row. He's earned a passport into more and better tournaments for the rest of the season.

He'd come through q-school at the end of 2009. All qualifiers were re-ranked after the Mallorcan event, recognizing how well or badly they'd performed across the season so far. Canizares tops the revised list.

UPBEAT OLLIE

Canizares and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, who were both in the reckoning on Sunday, would dearly have loved to win in their home country, and they'd have relished praising the work of their illustrious compatriot Jose Maria Olazabal.

The twice-Masters champion designed the Pula course. He wanted to play, but confined himself to a mere pro-am performance.

The World Golf Hall of Famer knew that four rounds of competition would take too much toll on his body as he continues to battle rheumatoid ailments. He's still positive, but accepts the more time that passes the harder it is likely to be to get back to his heights.

"I have felt some improvement," he says "and the pain is not as intense as before, but after two or three days of continuous play, the body is still sore."

MORE STAR WARS

Perhaps Olazabal ought to consider the path of Christian Cevaer and Obi Wan Kenobi.

"May the force be with you" is the mantra of Cevaer, the European Open champion.

He has Yoda in the bag. He reckons the Star Wars head-cover helps him stay positive.

"Mainly for the wiseness." he says "Even though I've turned 40, you never cease to learn. This game will never be mastered. It doesn't always come easy, but this guy in the bag is helping me out."