J.J. Spaun wins Europe's flagship event after being left off US Presidents Cup team
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VIRGINIA WATER, England -- J.J. Spaun responded to his disappointment of being left off the U.S. Presidents Cup team by winning the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday, making four birdies on the last five holes for a 5-under 67 and a two-shot victory in his debut at the European tour's flagship event.
Spaun, last year's U.S. Open champion at Oakmont, made it three Americans winning at Wentworth in the last six years. It was his second victory of the year, having won the Texas Open in April.
“I played with a huge chip on my shoulder,” Spaun said of being overlooked as a captain's pick for the Presidents Cup next week outside Chicago. “I definitely had something to prove this week, but everything happens for a reason.”
As well as he finished, Spaun needed plenty of help from Manuel Elvira.
The 30-year-old Spaniard made a 9-foot eagle on the par-5 17th to tie Spaun for the lead and head to the par-5 closing hole needing birdie to win. Elvira chose iron off the tee, leaving him 254 yards from the green. He decided to lay up, but hit that into a bunker. He hit his next shot over the green, dumped a chip into a bunker and finished with a double bogey for a 70.
“Devastating that I hit the wrong shot at the right time on the lay up and left myself the toughest shot in the fairway bunker, and wasn’t able to pull it off,” Elvira said.
Elvira wound up in a four-way tie for second with Rory McIlroy (68), Adam Scott (68) and PGA champion Aaron Rai (66).
The final hour
All of them were in the mix in the final hour at Wentworth until Spaun raced to the top. It started with a tee shot to 3 feet on the par-3 14th. He holed a pair of 15-foot birdie putts on the 15th and 16th, and then two-putted for birdie on the 18th to post a 17-under 271.
Spaun loves bringing his family to London, though the 36-year-old Californian wasn't planning on coming to the BMW PGA Championship this year because of travel getting to the Presidents Cup.
U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker used the final two picks on Jacob Bridgeman, who won at Riviera earlier in the year, and 21-year-old Jackson Koivun, who won in his third start as a pro in July.
It was surprising to Spaun, particularly since he was one of the rare bright spots for the Americans in his Ryder Cup debut the previous September, going 2-1-0. Spaun had to withdraw from the Tour Championship last month because of a shoulder injury.
He looked healthy as can be against a strong field with so many top contenders.
Taking care of business
“Extra motivation, I think that's the will power you have,” Spaun said. “Being left off the Presidents Cup team was very disappointing. I wanted to prove that I deserve to be on the team. I took care of my business.”
McIlroy couldn't quite get over the hump. He was in a four-way tie for the lead at 15 under going to the 18th, but he drove into a bunker, had to lay up and missed an 8-foot birdie chance from the fringe that effectively ended his chances.
“I had my chances out there,” McIlroy said. “Wish I had some of those putts back, but I have to be encouraged with where my game is at.”
Race to Dubai
His runner-up finish — his best result since winning the Masters — allowed McIlroy to cut into Patrick Reed's lead in the Race to Dubai as he chases an eighth season title in a bid to tie Colin Montgomerie's record.
Spaun now has four career victories, three of them in the last 15 months that will move him just outside the top 10 in the world.
“I blossomed into this player I never thought I could be,” he said. “I've always wanted to be a global player. I'm really happy my schedule worked out the way it did.”
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