Billy Horschel, stronger in play-off than Rory McIlroy and Thriston Lawrence. Coussaud and Rozner in the top 10

At the end of a breathless play-off, initially three-way with South African Thriston Lawrence, American Billy Horschel finally defeated Rory McIlroy head-to-head on the 2nd attempt with a masterful eagle against a birdie from the Northern Irishman on the par 5 of the 18th of the West Course. The Floridian, -20 (268) after 72 holes, takes his second success at Wentworth after 2021. This is his third victory on the DP World Tour with the WGC-Match Play 2021. Very solid in this last anthology round, Ugo Coussaud and Antoine Rozner take 7th place at -15 (272).

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What a last round of the BMW PGA Championship 2024! What a show offered by three of the best players on the European Tour this Sunday at Wentworthin the south-west suburbs of London! And what a winner of this edition that will remain, without a doubt, in the annals of DP World Tour !

Victorious here in 2021 with a final score of -19, one length ahead of the Welshman Jamie DonaldsonEnglish Laurie Canter and Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Billy Horschel did it again by winning a three-way play-off against the South African Thriston Lawrence and Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy.

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All three at -20 after 72 holes, playing in this final round 67 (-5) – for Horschel and McIlroy – and 65 (-7) – for Lawrence – they were forced to perform an additional five-star suspense on the challenging hole of the West Course, this very spectacular par 5 of the 18th barred by a very threatening stream on the edge of the green.

Long-time favourite to clinch a 5th victory on the Tour – we’ll come back to that – Thriston Lawrence was nevertheless the first to make a mistake, misplacing his driver shot to the right of the fairway and then leaving this rather hostile spot with a bogey after sending his 3rd shot into the water. Prohibitive! Authors of a birdie in this first act, Billy Horschel and Rory McIlroy therefore set off again, this time face-to-face, a few minutes later on this same par 5.

After two perfect fairway putts and two 4-iron shots into the green, the decision was finally made with a putter in hand. In eagle position, a good 7 metres from the target, McIlroy saw his ball brush the hole while his opponent hit the target, once again crucifying the Briton, beaten by only one shot last week at home in Northern Ireland by the Dane. Rasmus Højgaard.

A completely crazy scenario when you know that these two men, with immense talent, had previously run after “the score” on this Sunday alternating rain and clear spells. Accusing three shots behind Matteo Manasseroleader at -18 at the start of this last round, Billy Horschel and Rory McIlroy have long seen the names of Thriston Lawrence and Aaron Rai sit at the top of the leaderboard.

Thanks to two chip-ins at 1 and 2 for two consecutive birdies, this same Lawrence set the tone, just like the Englishman Aaron Rai, recent winner on the PGA Tour (At Wyndham Championship on August 11). Benefiting from the numerous errors of the Italian Matteo Manassero on his serve, Rai even took the sole lead of the tournament at -18 at the 12th. Before seeing the South African pass him at -19, quickly accompanied by Horschel, demonic at putting (only 25 putts in this last round for the 24th player in the world).

A sublime putt from Lawrence at 16 for -20 almost made the difference, however, the four-time winner on the Tour then giving himself a two-shot lead over the pack of contenders (a small half-dozen including the Frenchman Antoine Roznerthen still in the game) but it was on the two par 5s of the 17th and then the 18th that the cards were redistributed.

As Rai sent his ball into the water on the 18th, annihilating all his chances of victory, a year after finishing joint 2nd (with Tyrrell hatton) just behind Ryan FoxRory McIlroy hit a magical eagle on the 17th, joining Lawrence at -20. The latter nevertheless still had the opportunity to extend the gap to -21 on the 18th green, but his birdie attempt came to an end a few centimetres short of the mark, while the Northern Irishman almost made a mistake on a second shot that stopped just before the pond (see above). Back at -19 on the 17th green, Billy Horschel didn’t need to be asked twice to make another birdie on the 18th, inviting himself into a spellbinding play-off. The rest is history.

Coussaud and Rozner advance to the Race…

With this new triumph in England, Billy Horschel, who was not selected by Jim Furyk in the US team of Presidents Cup who challenges the Internationals at the end of September in Montreal (Canada), climbs to 3rd place in the Race (2nd place for Lawrence). A ranking which also allows Ugo Coussaud and Antoine Rozner to see things more clearly.

Seventh on the leaderboard at -16 (272) thanks to two new very solid cards of 65 (for Coussaud) and 69 (for Rozner), the French are making significant progress in the Race. 29th for the former (+11), who was discovering Wentworth for the first time, and 35th (+18) for the latter. A good omen as there are only five tournaments left in the regular season (including the FedEx French Open (October 10-13)) before the play-offs in the Emirates which will only bring together the 70 then 50 best in the European ranking.

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