Wood, Jimenez and Campillo share lead at Wentworth

England's Chris Wood tees off on the second during the first round of the PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club in Surrey, southwest of London, on May 21, 2015. (Photo: AFP/Glyn Kirk)

WENTWORTH, United Kingdom: England's Chris Wood was one of the early pace-setters as the European PGA Championship got under way at Wentworth, near London, on Thursday (May 21).

The 27-year-old Wood was safely in with a first round 68, four-under par, to share the lead with a pair of Spaniards in Jorge Campillo and veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez who were both in the clubhouse and the big-hitting Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts level with the trio and standing on the 15h tee.

But world number one Rory McIlroy was having a mixed day in his defence of the title he won here last year.

The Northern Irishman was one-under par with four holes to play thanks to a birdie on the par-3 14th after a lacklustre front level par front nine.

McIlroy, a winner in the United States last week, had opened by dropping a shot on the first and made a sloppy bogey on the fifth and let another shot slip at the 13th.

Wood was out in 33 and five-under the card on the 17th tee but dropped a shot at the par-5 although that was the only blemish on his card.

Campillo finished with a flourish, making a birdie four at the 17th and eagling the par-5 18th to build on his encouraging seventh place in last week's Spanish Open.

Another Spaniard, Pablo Larrazabal was a shot back after an opening 69 and Sweden's Robert Karlsson was three-under with six to play.

Jimenez had a run of three birdies in four holes from the 13th, but some big names were struggling on a benign day for golf.

Paul Lawrie, the 1999 British Open champion, was five-over after 12, South Africa's Ernie Els two-over with two to play and Anders Hansen, the winner here in 2002 finished with a 74 - two-over par.

Scotland's Craig Lee had a hole-on-one on the 141 metre par-3 second but immediately gave a shot back on the par-4 third and had a double bogey five on the fifth to stand at two-over the card.

US Open winners Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell were amongst the afternoon starters as was Luke Donald who needs a good finish here to ease his qualifications worries for the US and British Opens.

The field in the European Tour's flagship event are competing for a purse of €5 million, an increase of €250,000 on last year's prize fund.