BMW PGA Championship
The BMW PGA Championship, as it is currently known for sponsorship reasons, is an annual men's professional golf tournament on the European Tour. It was founded in 1955 by the Professional Golfers' Association, and as such was originally called the British PGA Championship. Since then it has had several sponsored names, but the phrase "PGA Championship" has usually been included in the name. History. The BMW PGA Championship has usually been played each May, on the weekend of the UK's Spring Bank Holiday, over the West Course at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, England. The  PGA European Tour has its headquarters at the club and as the tour's home tournament, the BMW PGA Championship is often regarded as the flagship event on the European Tour. The tournament switched to September in 2019 as part of a revamp of the golfing calendar in which the US PGA Championship moved to May. It has usually had the highest prize money of any event which the tour organises, but this changed in 2009 with the introduction of the Race to Dubai, and the $10 million Dubai World Championship at the end of the season. There are  other more lucrative events than the BMW PGA Championship which are part of the European Tour schedule, such as the majors and the World Golf Championship events, but these are organised by other bodies. It is also the European Tour's designated "Premier event" for the purposes of the Official World Golf Rankings, with a minimum of 64 ranking points available to the winner. The winner of the tournament is given an exemption into that season's U.S. Open and the next three Open Championships. In 2000, Colin Montgomerie became the only player to win three years in a row . Multiple winners. Only nine men have won the event more than once up to and including 2019. Media coverage. Currently in the United Kingdom, all four rounds of the BMW PGA Championship are shown live by Sky Sports with highlights being shown by the BBC.