Billy Horschel makes history winning 2024 BMW PGA Championship over Rory McIlroy in playoff

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Image Credit: BBC

There may be no greater lock in golf these days than Billy Horschel fresh off being snubbed for a United States team in an international event. Just weeks after not being included on the U.S. roster for the 2024 Presidents Cup, Horschel mounted a major comeback at the 2024 BMW PGA Championship to become the first American in history to twice claim victory at the signature event on the DP World Tour.

Horschel scored clutch birdies on the 17th and 18th holes in regulation at Wentworth Club in Surrey, England, moving his number to 20 under and forcing a three-way playoff. Joining him playing extra holes were Rory McIlroy, a four-time major winner and the No. 3 golfer in the world, and South American Thirston Lawrence.

Lawrence fell off by bogeying the first playoff hole (par-5 18th) as Horschel and McIlroy scored birdie with an opportunity to replay the hole. Both had long eagle putts to win; McIlroy’s barely slid past the whole, while Horschel sunk a 30-footer to win.

Yes, over his final four holes of the tournament, Horschel went birdie, birdie, birdie, eagle. That’s a helluva way to win $1.53 million.

Horschel previously won the BMW PGA Championship in 2021 after he was similarly snubbed from the U.S. Ryder Cup team. That year, he became the second American in history — and first since Arnold Palmer in 1975 — to win the event.

It has been a priority for Horschel to play golf in Europe over the last few years. That paid off earlier this season when he finished T2 at The Open Championship, his best finish ever at a major.

Sunday’s victory marked his second of the season after previously capturing the Corales Puntacana Championship in April. Horschel had not won a tournament since June 2022.