Switch on the tele, tune into the wireless or browse through a magazine and there will be someone somewhere compelling you to do this, that and the other before you shuffle off this mortal coil.

It's known as a bucket list and everybody seems to be writing one. Oor Wullie, for instance, has been doing it for years.

Marc Warren has a few things he'd like to tick off. Victory in the BMW PGA Championship here at Wentworth is one of them. On a warm, sunny day in the Surrey stockbroker belt, the 34-year-old made some profitable gains on the West Course and opened his campaign with a neatly assembled four-under 68 which tucked him into a share of third place, three shots behind the early frontrunner, Francesco Molinari, who powered to the head of affairs with a sizzling seven-under 65.

Buoyed by Rangers's play-off victory the night before, Warren kept the football theme running. This round was a game of two halves, after all. Following a purposeful thrust on the front nine, that was aided by a bag of four birdies, the three-time European Tour winner battled away on the inward half as a menacing wind picked up as the day progressed and the greens became less welcoming. A bogey at 13 ruined the tidy run but a good par-putt from six-feet at the 14th and important up-and-downs at both the 15th and 16th were key to maintaining momentum. Warren then cracked a 5-wood from just over 240 yards into the par-5 18th to 25-feet - "my best shot of the day" - and just missed the eagle attempt. His tap-in birdie ensured that he finished with a flourish. Two years ago, in this same event, the Scot was beaten to the title in a three-man play-off. The desire to go one better remains a major driving force. "I think Justin Rose called this 'a bucket list' tournament earlier this week, it's one you want to win," said Warren, who was sitting alongside a posse of players that included Chris Wood, YE Yang, Jorge Campillo and the evergreen Miguel Angel Jimenez.

"When you come so close, like I did, it definitely gets you fired up and when you come back, you want to kind of right the wrongs of the past."

It was a day of fluctuating fortunes for the Molinari brothers. While Edoardo retired after 16 holes due to injury, Francesco continued his good recent form to surge to the front of the field. Fresh from a second place finish in the Spanish Open last weekend, the Ryder Cup player, who has been competing predominantly in the US this season, upped the ante on his back nine as he romped home in a five-under 32 to open up a two-shot lead over Sweden's Robert Karlsson. "Dropping out of the world's top 50 hasn't helped help me because it means I need to play more events," said Molinari, who is juggling competition on both sides of the Atlantic. "It's a challenge for my game to play more over there, and that's the main reason why I did it. I think it's helping my game to improve and hopefully I'll get the rewards soon."

It's been a hectic few days for Rory McIlroy. Victory in America last Sunday was quickly followed by a flight back to the UK to fulfil a commitment to his sponsors on Monday before he got himself into his tux for a late night at the European Tour's annual awards bash on Tuesday. It's tough at the top and the reigning BMW PGA champion was certainly not firing on all cylinders yesterday as he marched out with the early starters. A topsy-turvy one-under 71, comprising four birdies and three bogeys, left him seven shots off the early pace as he finished alongside the former US Open champion, Justin Rose. It was just one of those days where nothing much happened for the world No 1.

"Physically I am all right but mentally I could feel myself getting a little angry out there," admitted the 26-year-old, who has won six times on the global stage in the year since his conquest at Wentworth last May.

"Acceptance of bad shots is the thing I have been doing so well and I feel like my patience was wearing a bit thin today. I felt I was standing still at one-under."

Richie Ramsay, the Scot who won the Hassan Trophy in Morocco earlier this season, joined the throng on 71 but his fellow Aberdonian Paul Lawrie would have been left as dour as a lump of sodden granite after a torrid seven-over 79. Chris Doak and Tartan Tour stalwart Greig Hutcheon both had 72s. Stephen Gallacher, meanwhile, failed to make the starting grid after withdrawing early in the morning due to tendonitis in his wrist. Perhaps Padraig Harrington should have done the same. He only lasted two holes with an injured shoulder and retired much to the annoyance, no doubt, of Englishman Richard McEvoy, who was the next man on the reserve list. One reserve who did get in was Italian teenager Renato Paratore, but it was a furious fluster to make it. A late phone call, a flight from Rome to Heathrow which landed just an hour before his allotted tee-time, no practice and borrowed clubs? It all added up to an eight-over 80.