The 70th edition of the BMW PGA Championship will be played at Wentworth this week as the DP World Tour advances closer to the business end of the season.

Aside from the majors being won by the Americans, the past 12 months of the golfing world has been dominated by first-time victors and prospects developing into world stars.

Here, Sports Mole takes a look at the main runners and riders ahead of this week's event in Surrey as some star names look to end the campaign on a high.

BMW PGA Championship preview

In the aftermath of narrowly missing out at last week's Irish Open, there was a despondency in the voice of Rory McIlroy when he admitted that he was getting used to failing to convert leads.

However, this was no US Open meltdown at the final hurdle. The Northern Irishman shot 69 on the final day, only to be upstaged by Rasmus Hojgaard's brilliant 65.

Having been making his first appearance in three weeks, McIlroy would have since put the disappointment into context, but there is an increasing desperation about getting back into the winners circle for the first time since Wells Fargo during the first half of the year.

Hojgaard will have ambitions of going back to back, and that should not be written off. At the recent British Masters, the Dane finished third, and he is currently on a streak of eight made cuts in a row.

Matteo Manassero continued his renaissance last week with a third-placed finish, the former Ryder Cup representative now back up to 101st in the World Golf Rankings, and he, too, should be in the running this week as he bids to emulate his 2013 triumph at this course.

Tommy Fleetwood and Robert MacIntyre have endured exhausting campaigns, particularly the latter whose wins either side of the pond have taken him to 16th in the world rankings.

Fifth spot in Ireland hints that he is ready to push for the top 10 before the end of the year, but he will face competition from an array of British and Irish hopefuls.

Aaron Rai has been magnificent over the past three months, Shane Lowry is the 2022 champion and veteran Justin Rose is refreshed ahead of what will be just his third outing since finishing as runner-up at the Open Championship in July.

Course guide:

Wentworth has been synonymous with this tournament since 1984 and it has become the flagship event of the season for the DP World Tour.

The privately-owned club in Surrey is popular with the rich and famous, adding to its prestige once this tournament comes around on the calendar every year.

It is 7,267 yards in length, yet the highest winning score over the past six years has been 17-under-par. The lowest has been 20-under.

At the first, participants are presented with a tough par four, finding the fairway a necessity if you want to challenge for birdie given the uphill approach shot.

This is a course that offers four par fives, however, including the closing two holes with risk and reward involved at the last with water dauntingly-placed ahead of the green and awaiting gallery.

Prediction: Aaron Rai

Since Luke Donald's double success in 2011 and 2012, there have been 11 different winners of this event, with two of the last three trophies being lifted by non-Europeans in the form of Billy Horschel and Ryan Fox.

We are going with another British winner, even though Rai is another player who may be fatigued after bidding for honours either side of the pond, including participating in the Fedex Cup Playoffs.

That was perhaps evident as he dropped down to outside the top 40 in Ireland last week, but we cannot ignore that the Wolverhampton man is on a run of 13 successive cuts.

Rai's runner-up finish at this event 12 months ago helped set him on his way to the brink of the world's top 20, and another four rounds under 70 on this occasion, like last year, may get the job done.

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