Spaun triumphs in BMW PGA Championship as Elvira suffers Wentworth woe

Golf, eh? At the BMW PGA Championship, it was the man from the west coast of America who conquered the West Course.

It all went south, meanwhile, for poor old Manuel Elvira during a final hole calamity that was so grisly, it should’ve been played after the watershed.

On his debut in the DP World Tour’s flagship event, Los Angeles-born J.J Spaun, last year’s US Open champion, claimed his first win outside his homeland on a quite captivating day at Wentworth.

And hats off to him. The 36-year-old birdied four of his last five holes in a closing 67 for a 17-under total. In the end, that gave him a two-shot victory on a stacked leaderboard, but it could’ve been oh so different.

With Spaun already in the clubhouse, having inched ahead of fellow major winners Rory McIlroy, Aaron Rai and Adam Scott, Elvira came to the 18th with a chance to make his DP World Tour breakthrough in the circuit’s biggest event.

Thirty-five years after his celebrated countryman, Seve Ballesteros, earned his second PGA crown over the West Course, Elvira stood on the brink of glory too.

Vamos? Well, not quite. With big names all around him, Elvira, perched at No 294 on the world rankings, had put in a valiant display to keep himself in the hunt.

As Spaun was polishing off a tap-in birdie ahead of him on 18, Elvira rolled in a fist-pumping eagle putt from nine-feet on the 17th to move into a share of the lead at 17-under.

His drive on the par-five last was perfect. From some 250-yards, he had two choices. Channel the swashbuckling spirit of Seve and go for it or play it safe and lay up.

He opted for the conservative approach. And he made a right pig’s ear of it. Elvira plonked his second shot into the fairway bunker about 145-yards ahead of him.

It couldn’t have been worse. From there, he was faced with a thwack over water and while he got it out, it flew over the green and came to rest near the stand where big brother Nacho, a triple tour champion himself, was watching on. Through the fingers that were covering his face, no doubt.

Elvira got a free drop but, with a knee-knocking chip over a bunker and with the wet stuff beyond, he duffed it into the sand.

The 30-year-old needed to hole his fifth shot to force a play-off. The miracle didn’t transpire and just to rub a mighty fistful of salt into the wound, he missed his bogey putt which cost him second place on his own as he dropped back into a tie with McIlroy, Scott and Rai on 15-under.

“Devastating that I hit the wrong shot on the lay up and left myself the toughest shot in the fairway bunker, and wasn't able to pull it off,” said the scunnered Spaniard.

As Elvira stumbled, Spaun’s late surge was the stuff that champions are made of.

Controversially left out of the US team for this week’s Presidents Cup at Medinah, Spaun admitted that he was playing at Wentworth with a chip on his shoulder.

It was more like large fries and the burger too as he delivered something of a Harvey Smith salute to the US skipper, Brandt Snedeker.

“I definitely had something to prove this week,” said Spaun, after joining Arnold Palmer and Billy Horschel as American winners of the BMW PGA title.

“Being left off the Presidents Cup team was very disappointing. And I wanted to prove that I deserved to be on that team. I took care of my business this week.”

Rather bizarrely, Spaun, who takes regular holidays in England, gave a nod of appreciation to the bold Jeremy Clarkson.

“We've grown fond of him and we actually take holidays in December in the Cotswolds,” said Spaun, whose wife had a Clarkson mask with her to wave from the sidelines. “Jeremy was there in spirit. I think he brought me good fortune.”

Spaun certainly hit, ahem, top gear. Sorry. On a thrilling day, Rai, the US PGA champion, set the standard on 15-under after a 66 although he couldn’t pick up shots on the closing two par-fives.

McIlroy, in his usual compelling style, also had his chances but, unlike Saturday’s heroics with his eagle on 18, he couldn’t pull the showstopper out of the bag on the last and a par in a 68 was not enough.

On the home front, Robert MacIntyre conjured a terrific birdie, birdie, eagle finish in a 69 but three earlier bogeys at 10, 11 and 12 had scuppered his chances. MacIntyre finished in a share of 10th on 13-under.

It was Spaun, who beat MacIntyre to both the US Open last year and this season’s Texas Open, who was celebrating again.