It took four birdies in his final holes — plus a devastating 18th-hole collapse from his final challenger — but J.J. Spaun emerged the winner at Wentworth in his first-ever BMW PGA Championship.
All week Spaun raved about the opportunity to play in England, at the DP World Tour’s flagship event, on a top-tier golf course in front of massive crowds. Spaun and his family frequent the U.K. on pre-Christmas vacations, he added, but outside of the Open Championship he hasn’t played much tournament golf here.
Then came this week.
“The stars kind of aligned this week for me to come out on top, and I’m just grateful to have the opportunity and play and play well and give myself a chance and came out with a W,” he said.
Those stars aligning included Spaun coming up on the disappointing end of a Presidents Cup decision from U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker, who left Spaun off the team after a lackluster finish to the season plus a WD with injury at the Tour Championship. Still, Spaun — who’d finished 10th on the points list and also played well at last fall’s Ryder Cup — admitted his omission came as a surprise. And when it came time to tee it up this week, he drew on that as fuel.
“We haven’t spoken,” Spaun said of Snedeker, asked if the win had sent some kind of message. “But yeah, I played with a huge chip on my shoulder. I definitely had something to prove this week. But everything happens for a reason. I’m so delighted to be here and just to even play this event.
“I’ve always wanted to play for the longest of time. The extra motivation, I think that is the willpower that you kind of have. And being left off the Presidents Cup team a couple weeks ago was very disappointing, and I wanted to prove that I deserve to be on that team. I took care of my business this week. So all the best to the team next week at Medinah, and I’ll be watching.”
Spaun represented the U.S. overseas instead; he became just the third American to win the BMW PGA after Arnold Palmer and Billy Horschel.
Interestingly enough this marks the third consecutive season that the BMW PGA has been won by a player who’d missed out on a big team spot. In 2025 Alex Noren’s win was a reminder just how close he was to playing on the star-studded European Ryder Cup team. And in 2024 Billy Horschel won the week before the U.S. played the Presidents Cup in Montreal, where he hadn’t made the team.
It’s a heck of a consolation prize for Spaun.
“It means so much. You know, I’ve kind of blossomed into this player I never thought I could be,” he said.
