Nine notable names missing from the 2026 BMW PGA Championship

By Staff Writer

September 15, 2026

3 min read

Michael Stokes / CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Key takeaways

Rory McIlroy headlines the 2026 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club, alongside defending champion Alex Noren.
Nine notable players are absent, including major champion Hideki Matsuyama and two-time champion Billy Horschel.
Horschel, Marco Penge and Rasmus Hojgaard are skipping Wentworth to play the PGA Tour's Biltmore Championship instead, all fighting to keep their FedExCup Fall status.
Matsuyama, Si Woo Kim and Min Woo Lee are resting ahead of the Presidents Cup at Medinah the following week.
LIV Golf's Thomas Pieters and Byeong Hun An, a 2015 champion, are both missing for a second straight year.

The BMW PGA Championship returns to Wentworth Club this week with Rory McIlroy headlining a Ryder Cup-heavy field that includes Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland and Amgen Irish Open winner Shane Lowry. Defending champion Alex Noren, who beat Adrien Saddier in a playoff last year, is also back. But nine notable players will not be teeing it up.

Who is skipping Wentworth to play the Biltmore Championship?

Billy Horschel, a two-time champion at Wentworth in 2021 and 2024, will miss the event for the first time since 2020. Sitting 100th in the FedExCup standings, the final spot to guarantee his PGA Tour card, he opted for the PGA Tour's new Biltmore Championship instead. Marco Penge, 112th in the standings after an injury-hit season that included time away for medical and family issues, made the same call after finishing T13 in his Wentworth debut last year. Rasmus Hojgaard, 107th in the standings, will miss the event for the first time since 2021 even as his brother Nicolai remains in the field; he has posted three top-30s and a runner-up finish since missing the FedExCup Playoffs.

Player	FedExCup Fall standing	Playing instead
Billy Horschel	100th	Biltmore Championship
Marco Penge	112th	Biltmore Championship
Rasmus Hojgaard	107th	Biltmore Championship

Which Presidents Cup players are resting?

Hideki Matsuyama hasn't played competitively since the Tour Championship in August and is part of the International Presidents Cup team heading to Medinah next week. Si Woo Kim, who finished T5 and T18 in his last two Wentworth starts and posted 11 top-10s on the PGA Tour this season, is also on the International side and hasn't played since the Tour Championship. Min Woo Lee, one of 12 Internationals in the Presidents Cup field, is skipping the event after finishing T11 in 2025 following a season with five top-six finishes.

Three players are skipping the DP World Tour's flagship event to protect their PGA Tour cards instead.

Which other players are missing?

Thomas Pieters, one of nine LIV golfers who played Wentworth in 2025, finished T66 that year and sits 15th in LIV's season standings, with a best finish of third in Hong Kong; his playing future at the event is unclear. Byeong Hun An, the tournament's 2015 champion, will miss it for a second straight year as a LIV Golf League member, having missed the cut at this year's BMW International Open. Harry Hall, who posted a solo third at the European Masters after his PGA Tour season ended, is taking the week off following three recent DP World Tour starts.