J.J. Spaun won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on Sunday 20 September, closing with a five-under-par 67 to finish at 17 under par and claim a two-stroke victory — though the enduring image of the day was Spain’s Manuel Elvira making a double-bogey seven on the final hole to surrender his chance of a first professional title.
Elvira’s double bogey on the 18th
Elvira arrived at the par-five 18th tee in extraordinary shape. Ranked 294th in the world before the week began, he had just holed a nine-foot eagle putt on the 17th to draw level with Spaun, who was already in the clubhouse. A birdie on the last would have given him the championship outright; a par would have forced a play-off.
What unfolded instead was a sequence of errors that ended his challenge in the most painful fashion. Elvira chose an iron off the tee, pulled his lay-up into a fairway bunker, flew the subsequent approach over the green, duffed a chip back into a sand trap after receiving a free drop, and then required two putts to finish. His double-bogey seven dropped him into a four-way tie for second at 15 under alongside Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott and Aaron Rai.
Elvira said afterwards it was devastating that he had hit the wrong shot on the lay-up and left himself the toughest position in the fairway bunker, adding that he felt he had played some of the best golf of his life during the week. His brother Ignacio, who had finished in a tie for 44th earlier in the day, was on hand to console him as they walked off the green.
Former Solheim Cup player Trish Johnson, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, described it as a truly awful feeling, saying that no more than 20 minutes before the collapse Elvira had held a huge dream in his hands, and that watching it unfold on the 18th was, in golfing terms, quite tragic.
Spaun responds to Presidents Cup omission
Spaun’s own route to the title was shaped significantly by his omission from the United States Presidents Cup squad for the event at Medinah the following weekend. Captain Brandt Snedeker had used his final two picks on Jacob Bridgeman and 21-year-old Jackson Koivun. Spaun said he had been informed of the decision in a 45-second phone call in which he was told he was the odd man out, and that the slight had driven him throughout the week.
He told reporters he had played with a huge chip on his shoulder, that he had something to prove, and that being left off the squad had been very disappointing. He added that throughout his career he had been required to earn everything the hard way, including his PGA Tour card, and that this week was no different.
His closing stretch underlined the quality of his performance. According to PGA Tour reporting, Spaun’s birdie run over the final five holes began with a tee shot to three feet on the par-three 14th, followed by 15-foot birdie putts on the 15th and 16th, and a two-putt birdie on the 18th to post a winning aggregate of 17-under-par 271.
BBC Golf reported that Spaun becomes only the third American to win the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, joining Billy Horschel and Arnold Palmer. Spaun also won the Valero Texas Open in April, making the BMW PGA Championship his second title of 2026, and PGA Tour reporting noted the victory is likely to move him just outside the top ten in the world rankings.
McIlroy’s putter and the Race to Dubai
Rory McIlroy’s closing 68 was undermined by four missed birdie chances from inside 10 feet, and he drove into a bunker on the 18th before missing an eight-foot birdie attempt from the fringe that ended his challenge for the title. He told Sky Sports he felt he had struck the ball as well as at any point during the week but had struggled with his reads and failed to convert when it mattered.
Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, also on Sky Sports, said McIlroy had left a lot behind him on the greens, adding that it was surprising given how much he had improved his putting in recent seasons but that finishing tied second despite so many missed opportunities illustrated the depth of his talent.
The runner-up finish nevertheless produced a significant shift in the Race to Dubai standings. According to the DP World Tour, McIlroy trailed Patrick Reed by 839.76 points entering the week. His 532 Race to Dubai points from the tied-second finish, combined with Reed’s mid-round withdrawal on Friday with a wrist injury, reduced the deficit to 307.76 points. McIlroy said he was excited by the position, noting he had three DP World Tour events remaining in his season — the DP World India Championship from 15–18 October, the Abu Dhabi Championship from 5–8 November, and the DP World Tour Championship from 12–15 November — and that he felt he had sufficient opportunities. An eighth Race to Dubai title would draw him level with Colin Montgomerie’s all-time record.
Despite his heartbreak on the 18th, Elvira’s week brought its own reward: the DP World Tour confirmed he moved up 50 places to 35th in the Race to Dubai rankings, securing a debut appearance at the season-ending Play-Offs.
Final leaderboard — BMW PGA Championship, Wentworth, 20 September 2026
| Position | Player | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | J.J. Spaun (USA) | −17 |
| T2nd | Manuel Elvira (Spain) | −15 |
| T2nd | Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) | −15 |
| T2nd | Adam Scott (Australia) | −15 |
| T2nd | Aaron Rai (England) | −15 |
| T6th | Matt Fitzpatrick (England) | −14 |
| T6th | Ryan Fox (New Zealand) | −14 |