VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) — Shane Lowry tapped in for birdie at the 18th hole and then had to wait and see if Rory McIlroy could produce something special to force a playoff at Wentworth.

McIlroy gave himself a chance and the crowd cheered as his long eagle putt on the final hole crept slowly toward the cup, only to stop less than an inch short.

McIlroy crouched down, staring at the ball in disbelief, while Lowry hugged his caddie in the scorer’s tent to celebrate a one-shot victory at the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday.

It was Lowry’s first win since the British Open at 2019 and came after a bogey-free performance over three days at Wentworth.

It was also, according to the 35-year-old Irishman, a win for all the golfers who — like him — have rejected the lucrative offers from Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway series LIV Golf. Lowry and McIlroy were both outspoken this week in criticizing the fact that a contingent of LIV golfers had been allowed to play at Wentworth.

“I wanted to go out and win this tournament for myself, first and foremost, but I think for this tour and everyone that has stayed loyal to this tour,” Lowry said. “I really feel like this is one for the good guys.”

McIlroy and Jon Rahm were tied for second, one shot back. Talor Gooch, who plays on the LIV circuit, was another shot back in fourth place.

It was Lowry’s first win since the British Open at 2019 and came after a bogey-free performance over three days at Wentworth.

The tournament was reduced to 54 holes with no play on Friday after the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday.

Lowry finished with a 7-under 65 for a 17-under total of 199.

“I said to my coach this morning, `I need to just allow myself to play golf today,'” Lowry said. “I’m playing the best golf of my life, I need to just allow myself to do that. And I did that.”

Rahm surged up the leaderboard with a 62, rolling in an eagle putt on the 18th to take a two-shot clubhouse lead at 16 under. He then had to wait more than two hours to see if it would be good enough for the win, although on a low-scoring day at Wentworth it never looked likely to be.

A superb approach shot from Lowry on the 18th made sure of that.

Lowry hit an iron from 242 yards onto the center of the green — a shot good enough to earn an immediate fist bump from his caddie — and then rolled an eagle putt to within a few inches of the hole, leaving himself a tap-in birdie for the lead.

McIlroy, playing in the pairing behind Lowry, also had a 14-foot birdie putt on the 17th break just to the right of the hole. When Lowry then birdied the last hole, McIlroy knew he needed to eagle the par-5 18th — something he has never managed at Wentworth.

He came agonizingly close.

“I thought three feet out even that that putt was going in the hole,” said McIlroy, who won his third FedEx Cup title last month. “It just sort of wriggled right on me at the end. But overall it’s been another really good week.”

It was a first win for Lowry at Wentworth in his 13th appearance in the European Tour’s flagship event, having finished second to McIlroy in 2014.

“I love it here, I’ve contended in the past,” Lowry said. “The bad shots that I’ve hit over the years in contention actually started to creep into my head. It’s amazing what this game does.”

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Shane Lowry was crowned 2022 BMW PGA champion after pipping Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm to the coveted title after an action-packed final day at Wentworth.

Following the cancellation of play on Friday, after the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the tournament was reduced to 54 holes and the Irishman played them flawlessly, managing to play the West Course three times without dropping a single shot.

A birdie at the last meant he posted a final round 65 and a 17 under total, but he faced an anxious wait as McIlroy, in the group behind, had an eagle putt at the 18th which would have forced a play-off with his close friend Lowry. McIlroy’s 23-foot effort just stayed above ground, though, meaning the Northern Irishman signed for a 67, finishing a shot back on 16 under. That handed Lowry his first victory in a tournament that means so much to him, in the first week of qualification for the European Ryder Cup team in 2023.

Rahm, meanwhile, carded a stunning ten-under 62 earlier in the day to lay down the gauntlet to the overnight leaders, but settled for a share of second place alongside McIlroy.

Lowry, who hadn’t won a tournament since The Open in 2019, said: “Winning this championship means a lot. I love it here and I’ve contended in the past, so it’s great to finally get over the line. It’s been a good year, but I’ve felt like I’ve been close a few times and I felt like I was running out of time to win this season. Obviously, this one is right up at the top the list, so I’m delighted to have come out ahead.”

The performances of Lowry, McIlroy and Rahm, three of the highest ranked DP World Tour members in the field, will have caused a collective sigh of relief in the corridors of power within the DP World Tour, many of whose officials no doubt feared that one of the 15 LIV golfers in the field would win the title at the tour’s headquarters.

That looked a very real prospect when Patrick Reed, one of the first players to join the Saudi-backed tour, fired a final round 63 early on Sunday to post the clubhouse lead at -14. Rahm’s 62 ended the American’s hopes of victory, but Talor Gooch, another LIV golfer, threatened to the spoil the party when he got with two of the lead with six holes left to play. However, the America’c challenge stalled over the back nine, and only an eagle at the par-five 18th lifted him into fourth place on 15 under.

Speaking to the media, Lowry expressed his delight at having ensured a LIV golfer wasn’t celebrating on Sunday night. He said: “I made no secrets as to how I felt about the whole thing at the start of the week. I wanted to go out and win this tournament for myself, first and foremost, but I think for this tour. Everyone that’s stayed loyal to this tour and everyone that’s done everything for this tour. I feel like this is one for the good guys.”

McIlroy, another player to have voiced his unhappiness at LIV golfers playing at Wentworth this week, was also delighted that the man to beat him was a friend and fellow DP World Tour player. “I think Shane winning softens the blow. If it had of been someone else, I might not have felt as comfortable with it as I am,” he said. “Seeing a friend win is always great and I’m really happy for him. I struggled today. I didn’t hit my irons very well. I was scrambling quite a lot. But I got the most out of my round. I sort of dug in there and did what I needed to to give myself a chance going down 18. I don’t take as much momentum as if I had won the thing but I keep saying, the more you put yourself in these positions, law of averages suggests that you’re going to get your fair share.”

Second round leaders Soren Kjeldsen and Viktor Hovland went backwards on Sunday, with both players shooting 70 to finish tied fifth with Reed and Thomas Detry. Defending BMW PGA champion Billy Horschel posted a closing 67 to finish tied ninth on 13 under.

For the final leaderboard, click here. 

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Following the most successful LIV Golf event to this point in Boston last week, several golfers at this week’s BMW PGA Championship — the flagship event of the DP World Tour — are not pleased with several of their colleagues for taking up a spot in the field.

Jon Rahm and Billy Horschel, both of whom have been vociferous voices in favor of the PGA Tour in its battle against LIV Golf, called out LIV golfers who entered this week’s field at Wentworth Club.

“There are many players that have been key for European Tour golf and the Ryder Cup that have a lot of collective years on the European Tour,” Rahm said. “Them coming, I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing. What I don’t understand is some players that have never shown any interest in the European Tour, have never shown any interest in playing this event, being given an opportunity just because they can get world ranking points and hopefully make majors next year.”

Rahm went on to clarify that he had no issue with Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell or Ian Poulter playing this week’s event, but he was frustrated that other players — such as Abraham Ancer and Talor Gooch (Rahm didn’t name names) — were taking up spots.

“It doesn’t hurt me, but it does bug me that somebody who has played 20 DP World events this year cannot be given the opportunity to play a flagship event because some people that earned it … are being given an opportunity when they couldn’t care any less about the event,” added Rahm. “They don’t care. They don’t know the history of this event. They are only here because they are trying to get world ranking points and trying to finish in the top 50 [in the world] and that’s clear as day.”

Rahm reiterated something similar later in a different interview.

Why would PGA Tour golfers care about what LIV golfers are doing on the DP World Tour? Well, the answer to that is complicated, but Rahm referenced it in his answer. Right now, LIV players are not afforded Official World Golf Rankings points, and as a result, they will begin to fall down the OWGR, which is one of the main ways to earn a spot into major championships next year.

Those players, like Gooch and Ancer, would play on the PGA Tour, but they’ve been banned from doing so. The DP World Tour has no such ban currently, although they were asked not to play in the pro-am on Wednesday and asked not to wear their LIV Golf gear.

“Abraham Ancer, Talor Gooch … You’ve never played this tournament, you’ve never supported the [European tour]. Why are you here?” said Horschel. “You are here for one reason only and that’s to try to get world ranking points because you don’t have it.

“Those guys, when they signed that deal and the money that they got, they had to be smart enough to factor in that they knew that they might not be able to play either tour, they might not be able to get world ranking points,” added Horschel later. “The money they got was factored in, and that’s why they signed those deals.

“I honestly feel like it’s a slap in the face to the rest of the members of this tour that they’re coming to play the biggest purse on the DP World Tour and that they’re going to be taking money out of guys’ pockets this week. I don’t think that’s right in my opinion.”

Horschel doesn’t play the majority of his golf on the DP World Tour, and he said that he would have been even more vocal if players were trying to play on the PGA Tour. Both Rahm and Horschel made caveats from some of the old DP World Tour stalwarts.

“I wouldn’t call Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter hypocrites because they never said they wanted to play less,” said Horschel. “The guys that have publicly stated they want to play less, those are the hypocrites. Just be clear on that. It’s not every one of them. And there are a few of those hypocrites here this week because they wanted to play less, but they are playing another event that’s not a LIV event.”

Rory McIlroy, who is both the biggest voice on the PGA Tour front and has the most sway on the DP World Tour because of his affiliation with the Ryder Cup and because he’s the best player in the field, will speak on Wednesday. He did, however, give a preview of what’s coming after winning the Tour Championship two weeks ago.

“I hate what it’s doing to the game of golf,” said McIlroy. “I hate it. I really do. Like it’s going to be hard for me to stomach going to Wentworth in a couple of weeks’ time and seeing 18 of them there. That just doesn’t sit right with me.”

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Play at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth was suspended late on Thursday following the announcement that Queen Elizabeth II had passed away earlier in the day.

As a mark of respect, no play will take place on Friday, with the tournament restarting at 6.40am on Saturday. The tournament has been reduced to 54 holes to enable a Sunday finish.Those players who are yet to complete their first round will do so from 7.30am onwards from the place on the golf course where they stopped on Thursday afternoon.

A statement from the European Tour Group said: “On behalf of our members and everyone connected with the European Tour group and the BMW PGA Championship, it is with great sadness that we have learned of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. She truly was an inspiration to people the world over.  Out of respect for Her Majesty and the Royal Family, play has been suspended at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club for the remainder of Thursday and flags at Wentworth Club will be lowered to half-mast. Furthermore, no play will take place at the BMW PGA Championship on Friday and the golf course and practice facilities will be closed. Further updates on the resumption of play will be provided in due course. Our deepest sympathies and condolences are with the Royal Family at this time.”

Across the weekend at Wentworth, black ribbons will be made available for people to wear and flags will continue to fly at half-mast. In addition, there will be a two minute silence at 9.50am on Saturday morning across the venue to commemorate the life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, with the proclamation of King Charles III being shown on the television screens in the Championship Village from 10am.

The concerts and evening entertainment planned for Saturday and Sunday night has been cancelled.

First round recap

With the West Course softened by recent heavy rain, Tommy Fleetwood, Andy Sullivan and Victor Hovland took full advantage of being able to target the pins with all three players carding eight-under-par 64s to share the first-round lead.

Of those that have signed up to the LIV Tour, Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer are the highest placed on four under. Ian Poulter, who caused controversy by wearing a shirt which bore the logo of his LIV Golf team, Majecticks, is at -3, while Lee Westwood is at -2.

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