Ryan Fox showed nerves of steel to hole a crucial birdie putt on the iconic 18th hole at Wentworth to be crowned winner of the 2023 BMW PGA Championship.
The New Zealander entered the day three shots off the lead and was up against a number of European Ryder Cup players all in the hunt on Sunday afternoon, including Tyrrell Hatton, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy.
A triple-bogey at the third was not the ideal start for Fox but two birdies on the front nine saw him reach the turn in 36.
He then came home in 31, birdieing the par-five 18th from six feet after laying up, to finish at 18 under, one clear of Hatton and Aaron Rai. World Number Three Rahm was 16 under after a 68, one ahead of Hovland and two clear of Fleetwood.
McIlroy made a charge through the field with a closing 65 and he finished at 13 under alongside Australian Adam Scott and England's Callum Shinkwin.
"I'm immensely proud," said Fox. "It's such an iconic tournament. I know Michael Campbell has won around here when it was the match play event and to add to that history here and create some of my own is very special.
"I've got an almost three-year-old and a four-month-old standing over there and to have them here to support with a place pretty close by where we can stay at home this week just made the week.
"We have been through a pretty tough year as a family. We lost my father-in-law in June after a really, really short battle with cancer and that kind of rocked the family. It's been tough going back and forth.
“To have a back nine like that, especially after how I started the day, it's amazing. I played great. Pretty much didn't miss a shot from the third hole onwards and saw a couple of putts go in and it was a pretty cool feeling on the last to sort of know I had one to win and actually make it."
Elsewhere, Craig Lee was flying the flag for The PGA at Wentworth, making his return to the event for the first time since 2016.
Lee (pictured front, right), who qualified after winning the PGA Play-Offs back in April this year, opening with a 76 on Thursday and despite a much-improved performance the following day scoring two-under-par (70), he narrowly missed the cut.
CLICK HERE to view a full list of scores from the 2023 BMW PGA Championship.
