Billy Horschel made history in England on Sunday.
The Ponte Vedra Beach resident, Grant native and University of Florida graduate won one of the DP World Tour’s biggest events for the second time in four years when he drained a 25-foot eagle putt at Wentworth in Virginia Water, Surrey to win the BMW PGA Championship on the second playoff hole against Rory McIlroy.
Horschel became the first American to win the BMW Championship twice. He previously won it in 2021.
Horschel, who shot all four rounds in the 60s and made seven birdies in a row in firing a third-round 65, earned a spot in the playoff with a birdie at the last in regulation for a 67. McIlroy, who could have won with a birdie, hit his second shot in the water and parred.
Thriston Lawrence was also in the playoff but bogeyed the first hole of sudden death.
Horschel and McIlroy both birdied the first playoff hole. They played No. 18 again and both had eagle attempts. McIlroy’s putt barely missed to the right. Horschel’s hit the back of the cup.
McIlroy had a chance to win it in regulation, but his birdie attempt missed low. Both Horschel and McIlroy made birdie on the first playoff hole, but it’s Horschel taking the title and adding another what-if to McIlroy’s 2024 season.
How big a tournament is the BMW Championship?
The DP World Tour event has some history. It began in 1955 and for years, until the Race to Dubai was created, carried the highest purse for a European event.
Arnold Palmer was the first American to win it 1975. Horschel was the second American to win 46 years later.
Nick Faldo has won it four times and Colin Montgomerie once won it three years in a row. Other World Golf Hall of Fame members to win are Seve Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer.
What does Billy Horschel get for winning the BMW?
Horschel earned $1.53 million in U.S. dollars for the victory, out of a purse of $9 million.
He also earns a spot in the British Open for the next three years and the U.S. Open in 2025.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Billy Horschel made history in England for a U.S. golfer? What did he do?
