Heading for Headquarters

English golfers have been pretty dominant there in recent years. The clubhouse is an old country house that was known as "Wentworths" and was originally owned by the Duke of Wellington's brother-in-law. Perhaps in this 200th anniversary year of the Battle of Waterloo we'll see a courageous rearguard action by England's Luke Donald as he holds off Frenchman Alexander Levy to emerge victorious for the third time? Only Nick Faldo (pre-'Sir') with four, Peter Alliss (scandalously unknighted), Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie with three each have matched that. Monty won three in a row, including one where he was in danger of missing the cut as he nearly drove out of bounds on the 15th, but then gobbled up the two closing par-5s, followed by a vintage Monty-esque performance at the weekend.

The in-form Justin Rose has twice finished second, including losing out to Denmark's Anders Hansen in a play-off in 2007, so perhaps he'll be the only redcoat left standing. Then again, Wellington's horse was called Copenhagen; Hansen for win number three? (Completely useless and irrelevant fact; one of Copenhagen's hooves survives in the Officers' Mess in St James's Palace in London, as a most elegant snuff box). A cursory inspection of current form, combined with previous success at Wentworth, could of course provide a more accurate indicator of the likely champion.

I first attended the PGA in a working capacity in 1990 as a BBC Radio reporter of six years’ experience, but a rookie on the golf scene. I vividly remember being sent to interview Seve Ballesteros as he finished his round. We'd never met, his English was patchy, my golf knowledge was worse, it was live and I was terrified. It lasted about thirty seconds and I still have nightmares about it. I got to know Seve pretty well over the next two decades and he really was one of the most charismatic and charming of men, if somewhat of a thorn in the Tour's flesh. He was a sponsor's delight too, being a joy to play with in Pro-Ams, where he would go out of his way to help and advise his amateur partners; a glittering example too often ignored by many of his self-obsessed colleagues.

This year, Rory McIlroy will be defending the title that he won in such dramatic style a year ago, coming from seven shots behind the third-round leader Thomas Bjorn to seal a first win in 18 months and one that had looked highly improbable as the doleful Ulsterman started the week by breaking off his engagement to tennis star Caroline Wozniacki. It would be no surprise if he successfully defends and then goes on to win his home Open which he is hosting the following week at Royal County Down; another tournament to savour.