Just a week after being denied the Irish Open by a fast-finishing Rasmus Hojgaard at Royal County Down, the Holywood star gave himself a chance to win outright when he eagled the 17th from 50 feet.
But while he failed to make birdie at the last to win outright and admitted he was lucky not to find water, he birdied both playoff holes only to lose out to Billy Horschel’s brilliant eagle three.
“I’m excited for the future,” said McIlroy, who has had four runner-up finishes this year alone and 34 in his career – one more than Pádraig Harrington – as he works on swing changes for next year.
“I’m playing well, keep giving myself chances. You know, only two people have beaten me in the last two weeks, or not even one person, I guess, in terms of scores.
“So I’m happy with how I’m playing. I just have to dust myself off and get ready for my last three events of the year.”
McIlroy went into the final round three shots behind Matteo Manassero but while he admitted he was scrappy on the front nine, he played the back nine in four-under for a closing 67 and just got beaten by a brilliant putter in Horschel.
“Last week was a tough one,” he said of the Irish Open, where he almost eagled the 72nd hole to force a playoff.
“I left there with my head held high with the way I played the last hole trying to make three. And then, yeah, I mean, I played the playoff holes perfectly, really, a couple of birdies.
“But it just shows the standard out here. If you slip up just a little bit or don’t make a birdie on a crucial hole, someone is always waiting to take advantage of that and look, I had my chance in regulation.
“I had a really awkward yardage for my second. Tried to turn a 4-iron over. I mean, I was lucky that it didn’t go in the water. Still had an up-and-down to win in regulation, but I was pretty lucky the ball stayed up, and I could make par and get into the playoff.”
The Holywood star looked set to put his Irish Open, US Open and Olympic Games heartache behind him when he eagled the 17th from nearly 50 feet to draw level with South African Thriston Lawrence on 20-under.
But needing a birdie at the last to win, he narrowly avoided disaster when his 253-yard four iron came up, well short, just yards left of the water that protects the green.
He needed to get up and down to win after Horschel narrowly failed to hole out from 90 yards for an eagle.
But with Lawrence sitting in the clubhouse on 20-under after a closing par gave him a bogey-free 65, McIlroy pitched 16 feet past and missed the putt as Horschel converted a four-footer for birdie to match McIlroy’s 67 to make it a three-man playoff.
Billy Horschel lifts the trophy following day four of the 2024 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club in Virginia Water, Surrey.
Returning to the 513-yard 18th in sudden-death, Lawrence found the spectator path on the right as McIlroy and Horschel found the fairway.
The big South African attempted a big slice around the trees off a muddy lie but thinned it into a bunker short and eventually picked up after spinning his third back into the water and leaving himself four feet for a six.
McIlroy had 227 yards to the green, but he wiped his four iron right of it before Horschel also went right with his approach and found sand.
Horschel played an exquisite long bunker shot to six feet, heaping the pressure on McIlroy, who faced a slick, downhill pitch from the right rough.
It took a big bounce to the right, leaving him seven feet for birdie. But while he coolly rolled it in the middle, Horschel matched him, sending them back to the 18th tee.
Both men found the fairway and the green the second time around but after McIlroy’s 35-footer shaved the edge, Horschel rolled in a 30-footer for his second win in the event in three years.
“I’m thrilled,” Horschel said. “Excited for the way I played and just battled out there today.
“At the same time, a little disappointed. Rory’s a really good friend of mine, and I think the world of him, I think he’s a generational talent, and I know how close he’s been this year.
“So I could feel for him, but at the same time, I’m pretty excited for just being able to get it done today.”
It was a slow day for McIlroy, who bogeyed the second after a poor wedge but birdied the third and fourth to get within two of overnight leader Matteo Manassero, who would shoot a scrappy 73 to finish tied for fourth with Aaron Rai and halfway leader Matthew Baldwin on 17-under.
While he flew into the crowd at the back of the 216-yard fifth, McIlroy scrambled for par as Manassero rolled in a four-footer for birdie to extend his lead to two over Billy Horschel and three over the Ulsterman, Rai and Lawrence.
McIlroy’s wedge play is a frequent talking point and he hit two poor ones in a row at the sixth and especially the seventh, where he turned away in disgust as he spun his 147-yard approach down the green and off the front.
While Manassero bogeyed the ninth, the Italian still turned for home a shot lead of Rai on 18-under and two ahead of Lawrence and McIlroy.
Manassero bogeyed the 10th, however, as Rai went six under for the day at the 12th to lead by one from the Italian and Lawrence with McIlroy two behind on 16 under alongside Horschel.
McIlroy’s power didn’t help him at the 11th, but he matched Manassero’s birdie at the 12th as Horschel made an eagle from a few feet after a brilliant seven-iron.
Lawrence, who chipped in for birdies at the first two holes, drew level with Rai with a sand save birdie at the 12th, then birdied the 14th to head Rai, Horschel and Manassero by a shot on 19-under.
McIlroy needed fireworks coming home but remained two off the pace with five to play as Horschel made a 10-footer at the 13th for birdie to join Lawrence on 19-under, one head of Rai and Manassero and two ahead of McIlroy.
McIlroy needed to find inspiration from somewhere and made a 10-footer for a two at the 10th to close within a shot of the leaders and share second with Manassero and Rai on 18-under.
As Manassero drove into the lateral hazard at the 15th and made a bogey, Lawrience birdied the 16th from 25 feet to get to 20-under. McIlroy needed at least two birdies in his last four holes, but after he missed chances inside 20 feet at the 15th and 16th, he took advantage of Lawrence’s failure to birdie the 17th up ahead.
As Lawrence was in the process of laying up on the 18th, McIlroy hit a brilliant approach to 47 feet at the 17th, and after leaving the flag in, rapped in the eagle putt to tie for the lead.
Lawrence’s wedge to the 18th finished nearly 30 feet away and after he failed to make birdie, McIlroy was left needing a four at the last for his second win at Wentworth.
Meanwhile, Tom McKibbin claimed his eighth top-10 of an excellent season, closing with a six-under 66 to finish tied for 10th on 13-under par and remain in the hunt for one of 10 PGA Tour cards.
It was also a memorable day for veteran Pádraig Harrington (53), who closed with a bogey-free 68 to share 12th place with Shane Lowry, who shot 67, on 12-under.
Harrington had to birdie the 18th on Friday to make the cut on the mark, and after firing a bogey-free 66 in round three, he kept a clean card again in the final round to clinch his best finish on the DP World Tour since finishing fourth in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in 2023.
