DP World Tour

Rory McIlroy suffers another near miss as Billy Horschel wins BMW PGA play-off

By Admin 9/23/2024
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By Martin Dempster - The Scotsman

Those golfing Gods just aren’t playing ball with Rory McIlroy at the moment. On the back of both the US Open and the Amgen Irish Open over the past few months, it was another sore one for the world No 3 in the BMW PGA Championship at the end of a dramatic final day at Wentworth.

Needing to birdie the par-5 18th in the final round on the West Course at the Surrey venue, he was in the middle of the fairway with his tee shot only to then hit a slinging hook that was fortunate to stay out of the water. A closing par left him in a play-off with American Billy Horschel and South African Thriston Lawrence after a three-way tie on 20 under par.

Lawrence dropped out at the first extra hole, leaving 2014 winner McIlroy and 2021 champion Horschel in a gripping head-to-head battle to become a repeat champion in one of the game’s great events.

A huge roar had gone up when McIlroy holed a lengthy eagle putt at the 17th a bit earlier and, with all due respect to Horschel, even allowing for the fact he’s a huge West Ham fan, there was no denying who the majority of those in a huge crowd wanted to see come out on top.

As they tackled the 18th again, both players followed perfect tee shots by safely finding the heart of the green. It was difficult to tell who was actually closer to the hole from around 30 feet.

McIlroy went first and just missed on the right side. The way things have gone for him at times this year, the Northern Irishman probably knew what was going to happen next and it did as Horschel’s effort toppled in with the last roll.

Since landing the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in May, McIlroy had let a winning position slip from his grasp in the US Open at Pinehurst then again in the Amgen Irish Open at Royal County Down last Sunday.

“Look, it's golf, and I'm playing well,” he said, having cemented his position at the top of the Race to Dubai Rankings as he bids to join Seve Ballesteros as a six-time winner of the Harry Vardon Trophy. “These things happen. You know, the game is testing me a little more than it has done in the past, but that's fine.

“If someone had said, ‘OK you're going to turn up at Wentworth this week at 20 under par’, I'd be like, yeah, I'd take that. All I can do is keep showing up and keep trying to play the golf that I've been playing, and sooner or later it's going to end up in a win.”

His next appearance will be alongside dad Gerry in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. “You know, two weeks in a row, played well, just not quite well enough, but happy with where my game is, happy where it's trending, got a week off here and then get back out at the Dunhill in a couple of weeks,” he added.

What about what, for him, had been a poor shot when he knew a birdie would give him the win he desperately wants after being left bruised and battered a bit lately? “Yeah, I was hitting at the right bunker trying to turn it over a little bit and get a little extra out of it. I just overdid it,” he said of hitting a 3-wood.

“Yeah, just one of those things. But I played the two play-off holes really well and especially the 4-iron I hit into the green on the second play-off hole was great. Hit a good putt that just slipped by on the right and Billy made his and that was the difference.”

On a say day for European golf following the death of Ryder Cup player Brian Hugget, Horschel underlined his liking for the Surrey venue by closing with rounds of 65 and 67, finishing with a brilliant birdie after deciding to lay up.

“My heart was pounding on the last couple shots and especially in the play-off, but it's always fun being in those situations,” said the 37-year-old, who was overlooked by US skipper Juim Furyk as a captain’s pick for next week’s Presidents Cup in Canada.

“That's what we work so hard for. That's what I've worked so hard for, and that's what I've always wanted to be, in situations like that, going against the best players in the world and hopefully be able to come out on top on the day. I was able to nip Rory and Thriston and come away with the victory.”

Matteo Manassero, who started the day with a three-shot lead, had to settle for a share of fourth spot with English duo Aaron Rai and Matthew Baldwin after back-to-back bogeys at the ninth and tenth took the wind out of his sails. Then finding the ditch at the right side of the 15th fairway ended his hopes of repeating a 2013 Wentworth win.

Nonetheless, another eye-catching effort from the popular Italian cemented his position in the battle for ten PGA Tour cards up for grabs through the Race to Dubai and, having already returned to winning ways on the DP World Tour this season, he had nothing whatsoever to be disappointed about as far as this outcome was concerned.

Helped by a fourth-place finish in the 152nd Open at Royal Troon in July and now picking up another big cheque here, Lawrence is an even stronger position in the card battle for next season’s US circuit.