Three birdies, then a fourth
JJ Spaun was going nowhere. He had started the final round at Wentworth a shot off the lead, dropped a stroke at the first, then made eight pars in a row. By the time he reached the 14th tee this afternoon, a leaderboard stuffed with major champions had left him behind.
Then he put a tee shot close at the 14th and holed the putt. He holed from 14 feet at the next. From 16 feet at the one after that. A two-putt gain on the last made it four birdies in five holes, a closing 67 and a target of 17 under par.
Whether it would hold was another matter.
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Elvira eagles the 17th, then finds sand
Two groups back, overnight co-leader Manuel Elvira struck his second at the par-five 17th to nine feet and rolled in the eagle putt to draw level. The Spaniard, still chasing a first professional win, then found sand with his second at the last, flew the green with his third, found sand again and walked off with a double bogey.
His 70 left him in a share of second on 15 under alongside Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott and Aaron Rai. McIlroy closed with a 68 that keeps him in range of Patrick Reed at the top of the Race to Dubai. Scott matched that number, Rai signed for 66. Matt Fitzpatrick, Ryan Fox, Joost Luiten and Filippo Celli finished three off the lead.
Elvira had begun the day bogeying the first as well, and recovered better, turning in 32 and briefly leading outright after two putts at the 12th. A missed short one at the 14th was the crack that widened.
Third American to take the title
Spaun becomes only the third American to win the DP World Tour’s flagship event, after Arnold Palmer and Billy Horschel, and the first player to win it on debut since Byeong Hun An in 2015. It is his second DP World Tour title after the 2025 U.S. Open, and his first Rolex Series win.
He said his omission from the Presidents Cup team had given him something to work with this week. He also credited a Jeremy Clarkson mask his wife Melody carried around Wentworth after a trip to the broadcaster’s pub in the Cotswolds came up empty.
“I knew the whole day I had to stay patient because of the closing stretch at Wentworth,” Spaun said. “You could go eagle, eagle and you could also go bogey, bogey.”
Elvira found the second version.
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