For JJ Spaun, the Led Zeppelin-loving anglophile from Los Angeles, there was a fairway to heaven at the BMW Championship. For Rory McIlroy, a resident on the Wentworth estate, there was a near miss and a short journey home to process it. Whatever difficulties McIlroy is experiencing with his swing, he was sufficiently grooved to card a 68 and a 15-under-par finish that left the world No2 two strokes behind Spaun.If there were frustrations about his proximity to victory, then they were nothing compared to the plight of Manuel Elvira. Heard of him? If you hadn’t then that would make most of us. Ranked 296th in the world, and without a win of any description in his eight years as a professional, the Spaniard, 30, had the DP World Tour’s flagship event in the palm of his hands. And then he suffered one of those gut-squeezing chokes that crop up in this maddening game. His dramas came on the fairway of the 18th hole, a par five, where he stood at 17 under par. His drive had left 228 yards to the front of the green and this hole had been a birdie-fest all week. With Spaun already in the clubhouse, a par would have guaranteed Elvira a play-off; a four would be worth £1.3million and more than the rest of his journeyman career combined.What followed was somewhat soul destroying. Having made the nervy decision to lay-up short of the creek, Elvira committed the cardinal sin of missing the fairway and finding a bunker. From there, it got so much worse – he flew his recovery to the foot of the 18th grandstand, where his ball nearly hit a group of journalists, and Elvira then proceeded to duff his fourth into another bunker. On his victory, Spaun said: ‘It means so much. I’ve kind of blossomed into this player I never thought I could be’ JJ Spaun’s wife Melody accompanied his final round with a Jeremy Clarkson mask on a stick Rory McIroy’s second place means he is only just behind Patrick Reed in the Race to Dubai By the time his ball disappeared below ground, after his seventh stroke, the series of blunders had cost him around £800,000. A cheque of approximately £500,000 for a share of second place with McIlroy, Aaron Rai and Adam Scott is nothing to be sniffed at, but the tears of his wife at greenside told their own story.His reaction after signing for a 70: ‘Devastated.’The spoils instead went to a man who admitted he was playing with a ‘chip on my shoulder’. That was Spaun, the 2025 US Open champion who recently incurred the surprise indignity of being left out of the American team for the Presidents Cup.Channelling his energies on a trip to Surrey, the late-blooming 36-year-old made his point emphatically with this performance – his closing 67 started with a bogey and not a single blemish followed. Finishing with four birdies in his final five holes, he sealed the deal in style.That it occurred in England was notable for the fact he is besotted with this country. He and his wife regularly spend holidays in the Cotswolds and more recently he has become addicted to watching Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime – his wife Melody accompanied his final round with a Jeremy Clarkson mask on the end of a stick. Each to their own.On his victory, Spaun said: ‘It means so much. I’ve kind of blossomed into this player I never thought I could be. England is a place that’s dear to my family’s heart and the stars kind of aligned this week for me to come out on top.’Detailing the Clarkson infatuation, Spaun added: ‘We’ve grown fond of him, along with the English culture. We take holidays in December in the Cotswolds, and we really enjoy his show. I went to his pub, The Farmer’s Dog, with the hopes to catch a glimpse of him but he wasn’t around.‘My wife said we would have a surprise guest following us this week if I competed in the tournament and sure enough on Friday morning I saw the face of Jeremy Clarkson and her holding it. Jeremy was there in spirit and I think he brought me good fortune.’Golf is nothing if not utterly mystifying. In McIlroy’s case, that extends to understanding his swing, which he warned might take five or six months to fix but looked pretty handy here. His tie for second place means he is only marginally behind Patrick Reed in the Race to Dubai standings for the final two months of the season. If McIlroy can pass the American, he will win the order of merit for an eighth time, equalling Colin Montgomerie.‘I had my chances out there,’ McIlroy said. ‘I putted OK for the most part this week but I missed a lot of putts. I wish I had some of those putts back but I have to be encouraged with where my game is at.‘I hit the ball really well today and I’m encouraged with the signs. I just have to keep working at it.‘I have three events until the end of my DP World Tour season. I’m not sure what Patrick’s schedule looks like coming up, but I feel like I have enough opportunities. It would be obviously amazing to match Monty’s record.’