Following a thrilling three-man playoff at Wentworth, Billy Horschel defeated Rory McIlroy and Thriston Lawrence to win the BMW PGA Championship and earn a $1.53 million winner’s cheque.
After his victory, the athlete said: “I am thrilled, excited for the way I played. At the same time, I am a little disappointed. Rory is a really good friend of mine, he is a generational talent and he has been so close this year…I feel for him but I am also excited… There was a lot of luck on my side to get this victory today. I will give my all on every shot and grind it out and that is what I did today.”
He added: “That is what you have to do when you are not firing on all cylinders.”
Highlights of the match
After trailing three strokes at the end of the third round, McIlroy had to play catch-up the entire day. However, on the seventeenth hole, he made up ground with an incredible eagle putt from more than 46 feet away, taking the lead.
Lawrence was waiting to see how McIlroy and Horschel would do when he had the opportunity to finish with a birdie, but his putt on the 18th green dropped painfully short, leaving him at 20-under.
On the par-five 18th hole, McIlroy escaped a bullet when his approach found the rough close to the sea. He set himself up for a birdie by chipping it over the water, but could only manage a par.
Horschel nearly lost the playoff with a birdie on the 18th hole, forcing a three-way playoff in which he even chipped the ball out of a bunker to remain in the running. Horschel was devastated to miss the opportunity to win the championship with an eagle.
All three players ended at 20 under par overall. In the first playoff at the event in eleven years, Lawrence lost the first round after bogeying the 18th hole and reaching the water. Horschel and McIlroy then squared off for the championship.
After taking home the trophy in 2014, McIlroy was hoping to win it again, and he once again made a birdie on the 18th hole. However, Horschel held his composure and made history by becoming the first American to win the event twice.
Source: CNA