Ryan Fox birdied the 18th hole to win the 2023 BMW PGA Championship for his fourth DP World Tour victory, pumping his fist in the air just as the ball was dropping into the cup.
Along the way, he upstaged the European Ryder Cup team.
All 12 members of the squad arrived at Wentworth Club for one last tournament of preparation ahead of the biennial matches against the Americans, and all 12 made the cut, including Tyrrell Hatton, who birdied the 18th to forge a tie atop the leaderboard at 17 under.
But it was Fox who overcame a triple-bogey 7 on the third hole with birdies on eight of his last 13 holes during Sunday’s weather-interrupted final round to post a closing 67 and win his first Rolex Series event by a shot over Hatton and Aaron Rai.
“I played great, pretty much from the third hole on, didn’t miss a shot,” he said after his round. “It was a pretty cool feeling on the last, knowing I had one to win it and actually make it.”
Fox birdied four of the first five holes on the second nine before the weather stalled the action.
“The back nine was crazy. I made birdie from the trees on 15, first hole back after the delay,” he said.
Jon Rahm grabbed solo fourth, two shots back. He had an eagle putt on the 18th hole that would’ve tied him for the lead, but he missed just left to finish 16 under.
Rai also had an eagle putt at the last and while his ball was tracking, it could only catch a bit of the edge of the cup and it lipped out.
Ryder Cup rookie-to-be Ludvig Aberg held the 54-hole lead by a shot after rounds of 68-66-66 but shot a final-round 76, his card featuring two bogeys, two double bogeys and just two birdies.
Defending tournament champion Shane Lowry tied for 18th after shooting a final-round 71 which included a 9 on the par-5 17th hole.
How the European Ryder Cup team did
- T-2. Tyrrell Hatton, 17 under
- 4. Jon Rahm, 16 under
- 5. Viktor Hovland, 15 under
- 6. Tommy Fleetwood, 14 under
- T-7. Rory McIlroy, 13 under
- T-10. Sepp Straka, 12 under
- T-10. Ludvig Aberg, 12 under
- T-18 Shane Lowry, 10 under
- T-18. Matt Fitzpatrick, 10 under
- T-36. Justin Rose, 5 under
- T-45. Robert MacIntyre, 4 under
- T-64. Nicolai Hojgaard, even
European team captain Luke Donald finished 5 under, tied for 36th.
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