Nerves of steel: Tyrrell Hatton wins the 2020 BMW PGA Championship.

• Tyrrell Hatton (ENG) triumphs at the European Tour’s flagship event at Wentworth Club with a score of 19 under par (269 shots), ahead of Victor Perez (FRA, -15).
• In a final round that was tight for a long time, the 28-year-old held off the opposition to win a tournament in the prestigious Rolex Series for the third time in his career.
• American Patrick Reed (-14) finishes tied with Andy Sullivan (ENG) in third place and defends his lead in the Race to Dubai.
• BMW donates £ 71,675 to the Alzheimer’s Society for David Howell’s (ENG) hole-in-one in the second round.

Wentworth. The BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club drew to a close with a final round that looked for much of the day as though it would go down to the wire. In the end, Tyrrell Hatton defended the lead he established on Saturday to win the European Tour’s flagship event ahead of France’s Victor Perez, who closed the gap to put the 2018 Ryder Cup winner under plenty of pressure at times on Sunday.

“Congratulations to Tyrrell Hatton on his victory at the 2020 BMW PGA Championship. In many ways, it was a tournament unlike any we’ve seen before. While the electric crowds were not present this year, I’m proud that we were able to put on a world-class event for golf fans watching around the globe. We look forward to welcoming spectators back to Wentworth in 2021 for the seventeenth edition of the BMW PGA Championship,” said Graeme Grieve, Chief Executive Officer BMW Group UK.

Hatton hit rounds of 66, 67, 69 and 67 on his way to his fifth win on the European Tour. With the weather making for challenging conditions in the third round, the Englishman managed to pull clear of the chasing pack and took a three-shot lead into Sunday. By the halfway point of the final round, he had seen this lead disappear, as Perez drew level. However, Hatton refused to let this knock him out of his stride. While he carded five birdies on the final nine holes, the Frenchman hit two bogeys.

“I have been coming to this event since I was five years old. To go on and win the trophy is very special and it is a dream come true,” said Hatton after winning the biggest title of his career to date.

Patrick Reed narrowly failed to emulate Arnold Palmer in 1975 and claim a second American victory at the European Tour’s flagship event. Despite this, the 2018 Masters Champion did successfully defend his lead in the Race to Dubai, the European Tour’s season-long standings, which he could become the first American ever to win. Reed finished tied in third place with Andy Sullivan, who fought back strongly with the best round of the day on Sunday (7 under par), but ultimately came up just short. Behind Reed and Sullivan, Ryder Cup legend Ian Poulter (ENG, -13) finished fifth. Two-time major winner Martin Kaymer (GER, -10) was tenth. An opening round of 73 prevented the 35-year-old from achieving a better result, but the German did recover well to confirm his return to form.

David Howell hit the shot of the tournament in the second round. The 45-year-old Englishman, who won the European Tour’s flagship event in 2006, saw his tee shot on the 14^th hole bounce once before disappearing into the cup. Instead of the player receiving the Hole-in-One Car, a BMW 530e xDrive Touring (combined fuel consumption: 2.4 – 2.2 l/100 km; combined power consumption: 16.7 – 16.1 kWh/10 km; combined CO2 emissions: 54 – 50 g/km), BMW is this year donating £ 71,675 to the Alzheimer’s Society.