New Zealand’s Ryan Fox staged an excellent comeback to win the BMW PGA Championship as rising star Ludvig Aberg was introduced all the way down to earth at Wentworth.
Fox started the ultimate spherical three pictures behind chief Aberg and appeared out of competition after working up a triple-bogey seven on the third, however lined his final 13 holes in eight below par for a closing 67.
An 18-under-par whole gave Fox a one-shot victory over enjoying accomplice Aaron Rai and England’s Tyrrell Hatton, Rai agonisingly lacking an extended eagle putt on the 18th which may have given him the title or at the very least pressured a play-off.
Jon Rahm, who had been runner-up on every of his two earlier appearances at Wentworth, carded an erratic 68 to say fourth on 16 below as seven members of Europe’s Ryder Cup aspect packed the highest 10, with Rory McIlroy surging by way of the sector with a 65.
Aberg, who had been searching for back-to-back victories in simply his tenth occasion as knowledgeable, held a two-shot lead after 54 holes however slumped to a closing 76 which included two double bogeys within the area of three holes.
“I don’t really know what to think at the moment to be honest,” Fox mentioned.
“It’s not a tournament that has treated me very well in the past, although I’ve loved coming here. I don’t know what changed today but it’s pretty special to make a birdie on the last to win.
“To have a back nine like that, especially after how I started the day, it’s amazing. I played great and pretty much didn’t miss a shot from the third hole onwards.”
Fox, who’s the primary New Zealander to win the title, added: “It’s such an iconic tournament. I know Michael Campbell won the World Match Play here and to add to that history with my family here to support me just made the week.
“We have been through a pretty tough year as a family. Lost my father-in-law in June after a really, really short battle with cancer and that kind of rocked the family.
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“To have them here and have number two with us, little Margot who is four months old, is very, very special.”
Hatton had began the day 5 off the lead however birdied the second and third, nearly made a hole-in-one on the fifth when his tee shot clattered into the pin after which holed out from a bunker on the sixth.
After dropping a shot on the eighth, additional birdies on the tenth and eleventh gave Hatton a four-shot lead earlier than Fox started his cost with 4 birdies in 5 holes from the tenth to get inside one.
Hatton then drove out of bounds on the fifteenth and was going through a seven-foot putt for bogey earlier than play was suspended as a result of risk of lightning, a putt he duly made after an 82-minute delay.
Fox was lucky {that a} wayward drive on the identical gap didn’t run deep into the timber however took full benefit, hitting an outstanding second shot from the pine straw to 10 ft and changing the birdie putt to guide outright.
Hatton birdied the final to arrange the prospect of a play-off however, after Rai’s eagle try agonisingly caught the sting of the outlet and stayed out, Fox calmly holed from six ft to seal a fourth DP World Tour title.
Hatton, who gained the title in 2020 when followers have been absent attributable to Covid restrictions, mentioned: “It’s definitely mixed emotions.
“This tournament means a lot to me. Would have been nice to win with fans, especially my dad being here, that would have been cool.
“Not sure I’ll even be disappointed with the tee shot on 15, it had started raining pretty heavy. It is what it is. Tried my best and it was a great week.”
Aberg, whose victory within the ultimate qualifying occasion earned him a Ryder Cup wild card, admitted failing to shut out victory would “sting for a long time”.
“This was the first time I was leading a tournament and I felt like I handled it quite well, to be honest,” the 23-year-old Swede mentioned.
“It was quite difficult out there and I made a few stupid mistakes where I missed on the wrong side and was a little bit too cute with the chips.
“It cost me today and I’m trying to learn from it and I’m looking forward to the next time I’m in that same position.”
McIlroy was happy to shoot 12 below par over the weekend after solely making the minimize with a birdie on the 18th on Friday night, however disillusioned to not birdie both the seventeenth or 18th to place extra strain on the leaders.
Defending champion Shane Lowry completed in a tie for 18th after working up a quadruple-bogey 9 on the seventeenth in a closing 71.
