The DP World Tour’s flagship event the BMW PGA Championship‘s permanent home is Wentworth, a club undoubtedly worthy of such an accolade.
There are four incredible courses at the location – the West Course, where the event is played, the East Course, the Edinburgh Course and an executive course, while there is also a tennis club, spa and swimming pool. Not only that, but the club is also the home of the DP World Tour’s headquarters.
Wentworth is located close to the Surrey village of Virginia Water, which, in 2016, was named the most expensive place to live in the UK outside London. The club is also part of an exclusive 1,750 acre estate where some of the most luxurious homes in the UK are found.
Given all that, it’s hardly surprising that plenty of famous people have lived there and been members of the club over the years. Here are 13 of the most well known.
Nick Dougherty
Nick Dougherty has had a successful career as a player and broadcaster
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Nick Dougherty won three times on the DP World Tour between 2005 and 2009, while he also finished T7 at the 2007 US Open before embarking on a successful career as a golf presenter for Sky Sports in the UK.
The Englishman is also a long-time member of Wentworth Club, although there aren’t too many others who can say the same. After the club was taken over by a Chinese investment company in 2014, membership is now reportedly in the tens of thousands.
Ernie Els
Ernie Els has lived at Wentworth Estate, and redesigned the course
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Four-time Major winner Ernie Els was not only once a resident of Wentworth, but he was named the club’s “world-wide touring professional” in 2005 and has also overseen two significant redesigns of the course.
The first came in 2010, when he lengthened it, recontoured putting surfaces and added bunkers while deepening others. Then, in 2016, he renovated five of the greens and removed some bunkers.
After the first renovation, he said: “Everyone knows how special Wentworth is to me so of course it was an honour to be given the responsibility of renovating this classic course and bringing it into the 21st century.”
Els also won the World Match Play Championship at Wentworth seven times, but the one thing missing is a BMW PGA Championship title. Instead, the South African had to settle for finishing runner-up at the tournament three times.
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess Of York
Sarah Ferguson moved to Wentworth estate in the 1990s
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Back in 1992, the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, was involved in a media storm involving her American financier boyfriend John Bryan.
That led her to the sanctuary of the gated community of Wentworth and Romenda Lodge, which reportedly cost her £4,000 a month to rent, and where she remained following her divorce from Prince Andrew four years later.
However, the 1930s house is no more, having been replaced by a bigger neo-Georgian home in recent years.
Sir Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Forsyth spent his later years living at Wentworth Estate
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Forsyth was one of the U.K.’s most beloved entertainers for over 70 years until his death in 2017.
He was also a keen golfer and played in the BMW PGA Championship Celebrity Pro-Am at Wentworth, where he spent his final years in a property named Straidarran. Following his passing at the age of 89, it was reportedly sold by his widow Wilnelia for £5.7m.
Sir Elton John
Sir Elton John is said to have hosted lavish parties at his home on Wentworth Estate
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Residents of Wentworth Estate don’t come much more famous than singer-songwriter Sir Elton John, who began living there back in the 1970s and is said to have held many lavish parties over the years.
The cover for his 1974 compilation album Elton John’s Greatest Hits was also taken in his Wentworth home.
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy is reportedly building a mansion at Wentworth
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The four-time Major winner reportedly spent £10m developing a luxury mansion at Wentworth to live there with his wife Erica Stoll and daughter Poppy.
However, that plan appeared to have been put on hold briefly when divorce proceedings began between the couple earlier in 2024, although they have since called off the split.
Although the PGA Tour star is based in Florida, he also has a home in the Wentworth area near the ultra-exclusive Queenwood Golf Club, while he is reportedly planning a permanent move to the area when Poppy is at secondary school age.
Gary Numan
Gary Numan thinks his old Wentworth house was haunted
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New wave musician Gary Numan had a string of hits in the 1970s and 1980s, and at the height of his fame, he took up residence at Wentworth Estate, although he was convinced his house was haunted.
In a 2019 interview with Uncut music magazine, he said: “I had a big neo-Georgian house on Wentworth golf course, but I was convinced it was haunted.
“Some weird s*** had been going on – I’d come home and the house was in darkness when I was convinced I’d left the lights on. So one day, I made a point of turning on every single light in the house. I got back from the studio and – f*** me – the house was in total darkness.”
Sir Michael Parkinson
Michael Parkinson objected to changes at the club after a buyout
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Legendary English TV presenter and chat show host Sir Michael Parkinson, who died in 2023, was a huge golf fan and even wrote a book on the subject, Michael Parkinson on Golf, which was published in 1999.
Therefore, it’s hardly a surprise that he was a member at Wentworth. However, he took issue with the new owners following its buyout in 2014.
The decision to charge a sizeable debenture share to members of the club, reportedly in the region of £80,000, led to a reduction in the numbers, and Parkinson described the move as “barmy.”’
Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen has a luxury home at Wentworth
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Kevin Pietersen had a glorious career for England’s cricket team, including famously helping his nation win the Ashes against Australia in a thrilling Test series in 2005.
Later in his career, he joined the lucrative Indian Premier League, and he put some of that wealth into a home at Wentworth Estate, which includes a cinema room and pool, to live with pop star wife, Liberty X member Jessica Taylor.
Sir Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard reportedly had a run-in with authorities over a a conservatory at his Wentworth bungalow
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The singer, who is better known as a lover of tennis, bought a bungalow at Wentworth Estate in 2006, but he reportedly ran into difficulties four years later when a £30,000 conservatory he had added to it was said to have been built without planning permission and he was ordered to knock it down.
The issue was apparently to do with the fact that the structure was almost 40% the size of the entire home, although, at the time, Sir Cliff was said to be determined not to knock it down. In any case, he later put the home on the market for a figure reported to be in the region of £1.35m.
Andriy Shevchenko
Andriy Shevchenko has a house at Wentworth
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The former Ukraine and Chelsea soccer striker owns a £7m home at Wentworth where, in 2012, it was reported he had asked the council for permission to build a six-car garage where you would be able to use a remote control to raise or lower vehicles from the underground car park on hydraulic ramps!
A decade on, he offered to house Ukrainian refugee children at his house, telling ITV: “I have a couple of friends who want to help. We’re going to take 150 refugees here and put them in different areas. I’ll take a couple of children too in my house.”
Justin Rose
Justin Rose, who is a Wentworth resident, considers the BMW PGA Championship as big as a Major
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Another famous resident of Wentworth Estate is 2013 US Open champion and former World No.1 Rose.
The Englishman, who also has a home in the Bahamas, is not just a fan of his surroundings, either – he’s a huge lover of the BMW PGA Championship that’s held there.
Before the 2024 edition, he said: “It’s definitely one of my Majors, and then pretty much outside of the Majors, I couldn’t really think of an event I’d love to win more than this one.”
John Terry
John Terry is a member of Wentworth Club
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Along with Shevchenko, another former Chelsea player with associations to Wentworth is John Terry.
The former England captain is a member at Wentworth Club, and it clearly isn’t doing his game any harm. In 2022, he took to social media to share that he has a highly impressive 1.1 golfing handicap.
He also played in the 2023 BMW PGA Championship Celebrity Pro-Am at the West Course.
