Somewhat disappointingly there had firstly been a live TV ‘winning reaction’ followed with the traditional formal prize presentation before the penultimate question in a 24 question press conference for new BMW PGA Champion JJ Spaun to even mention Manuel Elvira’s name.
Elvira had horribly let slip possible victory in the DP World Tour’s flagship event in doubling the final hole after having eagled the 71st hole and needing a birdie at the last to secure a pro career first success or, at worst, par the hole and send the event into a play-off.
Sadly for Elvira it was not to be as the golf world looked-on in complete disbelief at the sight of the poor Spaniard self-destructing.
Earlier last year Spaun suffered his very own self-destruction losing a three-hole play-off betweeen he and Rory McIlroy in the weather delayed Players Championship.
ELVIRA WILL LEARN, AS SPAUN LEARNT FROM RORY …
With new @BMW_PGA @JJSpaun revealing how he learnt from @McIlroyRory @RMTracker words post losing 2025 @ThePlayers
Though unsure if the champion American spoke to the clearly crestfallen Manuel Elvira as Rors had acted so… pic.twitter.com/xKtnNm2I88
— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) September 21, 2026
The Monday three-hole aggregate play-off began on the par-5 16th hole. McIlroy found the green on his second shot and two-putted from 33 feet for birdie, while Spaun couldn’t get up-and-down from a greenside bunker and settled for par.
On the par-3 17th, Spaun agonisingly hit his tee shot over the island green into the water hazard and ended up with a triple bogey, while McIlroy three-putted for bogey and took a three-shot lead into the final hole. Both players had to chip out into the fairway after hitting their tee shots into the trees on the right. McIlroy then hit his third shot to 17 feet and two-putted for a bogey to secure his second Players Championship title.
Spaun was left to lament what could have been.
Now after the Wentworth final hole events of yesterday and it’s the turn of the 30-year-old Elvira to lament.
Spaun’s BMW PGA victory press conference focussed fully on his triumph but in took the second last question addressed to winning American, and in competing in the touranment for a first occasion, for him to somewhat disappointingly even mention Elvira’s name.
Spaun was asked: Coming back to the present event, if you look at the leaderboard at the start of the day, great leaderboard for a major championship. When you’re in those situations now, do you wake up and feel, this is my day?
Spaun responded mentioning he felt calmer and more relaxed having experienced winnig a major championship.
Though it was not till the third of his three paragraph reply we heard Spaun say: And Manuel is going to learn so much from this. Unfortunately it was brutal to watch but he’s going to know — he’s going to know what he’s going to do from those mistakes. Rory said the same thing to me last year at The Players when I lost in the playoff; that you have to go through these heartbreaks to eventually come out on top, and I think that’s right.
Well said Spaun but let’s hope you may have also found the time to speak to Elvria as McIlroy had done with you.
