STEPHEN GALLACHER FINISHES WITH A 66 FOR JOINT FIFTH PLACE

                  And the winner is - Rory McIlroy.  Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)

RORY McILROY WINS BMW PGA TITLE 

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS REPORT
By PAUL SYMES 
Rory McIlroy secured his first European Tour victory for 18 months in scintillating style as a closing round of 66 carried him to the BMW PGA Championship title. 
McIlroy ignited his final-day charge at a sun-kissed Wentworth Club, Surrey with an eagle at the fourth hole, and after reaching the turn in 34 he reeled off five birdies on the back nine – including successive gains from the 17th – to finish on 14 under par. McIlroy’s victory, which was the first by an Irishman in The European Tour’s flagship event since Harry Bradshaw in 1958, earned the 25 year old €791,660 and moved the Ulsterman to second place in The Race to Dubai. Ireland's Shane Lowry pushed McIlroy all the way, but in the end he had to settle for second place on 13 under par, one stroke clear of two-time BMW PGA Champion Luke Donald (70) and overnight leader Thomas Björn, who triple-bogeyed the sixth hole en route to signing off with a round of 75. 
 Quotes:  
Rory McIlroy “I played well all week. I thought my short game was really good today when it needed to be, and I converted my chances when I got them.
"It feels great to win on The European Tour again. It’s been 18 months since my last win in Dubai 2012, so it’s probably overdue. 
 “It’s nice to win again, and it’s obviously a great event to win obviously. It’s The European Tour’s flagship event here at Wentworth, so it doesn’t get much better than that.” 
 Shane Lowry
 “To be honest, I feel very unlucky. I felt like I hit some great shots coming in, and I hit probably the best five-iron of my whole year to the 15th but ended up making bogey, which is a bit annoying, especially after bouncing back from a double with a birdie. 
 “But to hole the putt on the last and to finish second on my own is really nice. It’s given me a lot of World Ranking points and a lot of Race to Dubai points, as well. So a lot of positives to take from the week.”
 Luke Donald 
 “It’s a very positive week. There were some tough conditions out there this week with some wind and rain and all sorts, but a lot of positives to take. "Obviously I would love to take that sixth hole back today, as would Thomas, but I was proud of the way I fought back after that to be five under for the last 12 holes.
 “I gave it a shot at the last but came up about a couple feet short, but I’m happy for Rory. He’s obviously been going through a tough time, and it’s nice to see him win again.” 
 Thomas Björn 
  “It’s obviously a disappointment. I just didn’t get it right today, and I made that massive error of judgement error on six, and that kind of let everybody back into the frame. 
"I knew that if I shot 72 today, it was going to be very difficult for people to catch me, but then all of a sudden the gameplan changed. 
 “To be honest, I thought I played pretty solid from tee to green, but I putted awfully. But that’s the way it is. It’s disappointing, but we’ll kick on from here.” 
SCOTSWATCH: Stephen Gallacher finished joint fifth on 279 after a great final round of 66.
Chris Doak finished joint 12th on 281 with a closing round of 71.
Marc Warren finished on 282 and Paul Lawrie on 283. Warren signed off with a 69, Lawrie a 67.

RORY McILROY FACTS, FIGURES
+His sixth European Tour International Schedule and victory in his 134th European Tour event. +Moves to second place in The Race to Dubai with earnings of €1,295,825. 
+ His first European Tour victory since the 2012 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. 
+ Becomes the first player from Northern Ireland to win the BMW PGA Championship.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
274 R McIlroy (Nir) 68 71 69 66
275 S Lowry (Irl) 64 70 73 68
276 T Björn (Den) 62 72 67 75, L Donald (Eng) 71 67 68 70
279 S Gallacher (Sco) 70 75 68 66, S Dyson (Eng) 69 74 69 67
280 M Siem (Ger) 69 71 72 68, T Aiken (RSA) 68 72 70 70, P Larrazábal (Esp) 69 71 69 71, F Molinari (Ita) 71 74 65 70, H Stenson (Swe) 68 71 71 70
281 J Luiten (Ned) 70 71 67 73, C Doak (Sco) 69 72 69 71, A Levy (Fra) 71 73 70 67, M Kaymer (Ger) 68 75 69 69
282 M Warren (Sco) 73 69 71 69, F Zanotti (Par) 67 72 73 70, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 65 73 73 71, J Blixt (Swe) 68 71 72 71, R Green (Aus) 70 73 70 69
283 S Benson (Eng) 71 69 73 70, E Pepperell (Eng) 69 73 68 73, C Wood (Eng) 73 72 69 69, P Lawrie (Sco) 72 71 73 67
284 J Rose (Eng) 70 73 70 71, 285 A Wall (Eng) 67 76 67 75, M Foster (Eng) 72 71 70 72, A Sullivan (Eng) 70 71 69 75, I Poulter (Eng) 70 72 74 69
286 A Hansen (Den) 71 69 74 72, G Havret (Fra) 69 76 70 71, R Wattel (Fra) 72 74 73 67, G Coetzee (RSA) 75 70 70 71, J Donaldson (Wal) 73 69 68 76
287 L Westwood (Eng) 71 71 72 73, D Horsey (Eng) 68 76 70 73, M Jiménez (Esp) 72 72 72 71, 288 R Rock (Eng) 73 73 72 70, M Ilonen (Fin) 71 71 77 69, T Jaidee (Tha) 72 73 74 69, R Ramsay (Sco) 70 72 74 72, G Stal (Fra) 66 76 69 77, T Hatton (Eng) 75 70 70 73, M Hooper (Eng) 71 71 71 75, S Hansen (Den) 73 72 73 70
289 D Huizing (Ned) 72 74 74 69, E De La Riva (Esp) 71 72 78 68, P Waring (Eng) 72 72 74 71, S Thornton (Irl) 74 68 73 74, R Jacquelin (Fra) 70 75 70 74, T Lewis (Eng) 73 72 71 73, E Molinari (Ita) 75 70 72 72, B Wiesberger (Aut) 70 71 74 74
290 C Del Moral (Esp) 71 75 71 73, R Kakko (Fin) 75 71 72 72, T Olesen (Den) 71 73 70 76
291 R Santos (Por) 72 69 79 71, A Quiros (Esp) 73 72 70 76, R Finch (Eng) 71 72 71 77, G Bourdy (Fra) 72 73 73 73
292 B Grace (RSA) 70 75 72 75, P Harrington (Irl) 69 76 74 73
293 J Campillo (Esp) 73 73 71 76, D Willett (Eng) 73 73 72 75, A Otaegui (Esp) 72 73 75 73, D McGrane (Irl) 71 75 74 73
294 R Karlsson (Swe) 74 70 72 78, R Derksen (Ned) 70 76 73 75, P Hanson (Swe) 71 72 80 71, 296 G Storm (Eng) 71 73 73 79, 297 J Carlsson (Swe) 71 75 73 78, N Colsaerts (Bel) 77 69 72 79, 301 O Fisher (Eng) 69 75 84 73
306 K Broberg (Swe) 73 72 80 81

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS