Hoschel Defeated McIlroy in Playoff

Won 2nd Sudden Death Playoff at BMW PGA Championship
Second Victory at the Tournament, Third Career Win in Europe
McIlroy and Lawrence Tied for 2nd, Manase in 4th Place

Billy Horschel (USA) once again defeated Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland).

Billy Horschel is cheering after making an eagle to win in the playoff at the BMW PGA Championship. [Wentworth (England) = AP·Yonhap News] Photo by AP

On the 22nd (local time), at the Wentworth Club (Par 72) in Virginia Water, Surrey, England, during the 4th round of the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) Rolex Series BMW PGA Championship (total prize money $9 million), Horschel shot a 5-under-par 67 to tie with McIlroy and Triston Lawrence (South Africa) at 20-under-par 268. Then, in the second playoff hole at the 18th hole (par 5), he secured the victory with a 'winning eagle.' This marks his third European Tour win in three years since his 2021 victory at this tournament, with a winner's prize of $1.53 million (approximately 2 billion KRW).

Starting from a tie for second place, three strokes behind, Horschel recorded one eagle, five birdies, and two bogeys. After a bogey on the 15th hole (par 4) briefly set him back in the race for the title, he dramatically caught up by making consecutive birdies on the 17th and 18th holes to force a playoff. In the first playoff hole at the 18th, Lawrence was eliminated after a double bogey, and in the second playoff hole, Horschel secured an eagle to surpass McIlroy, who made only a birdie.

Horschel is a veteran with eight wins on the PGA Tour. Notably, in September 2014, he won the BMW Championship in the third playoff event and then the Tour Championship in the fourth playoff event consecutively, becoming the FedEx Cup champion. At the Tour Championship, he caused a stir by defeating then world number one McIlroy. This year, he also demonstrated his strength by collecting the winner's trophy at the Corales Puntacana Championship in April.

McIlroy also performed well, shooting 5-under-par, but could not overcome Horschel's challenge. Lawrence showed strong finishing power with a 7-under-par round. Matteo Manassero (Italy), who was the leader the previous day, lost one stroke and dropped to a tie for 4th place (17-under-par 271). Aaron Rai (England) is also in this group. From Korea, Byeong-Hun An finished the tournament tied for 18th place (11-under-par 277) after shooting an impressive 7-under-par. Siwoo Kim also added 2-under-par to finish tied for 18th place.