Patrick Cantlay wins BMW Championship in epic six-hole playoff

Rory McIlroy claimed fourth place with a five-under 67 leaving him five shots off

Patrick Cantlay with the trophy after winning the BMW Championship at Caves Valley. Photograph: Nick Wass/AP
Patrick Cantlay with the trophy after winning the BMW Championship at Caves Valley. Photograph: Nick Wass/AP

Bryson DeChambeau missed four birdie putts to win the tournament as Patrick Cantlay snatched the BMW Championship in an epic six-hole playoff on Sunday.

In an at-times testy finale between the two playing partners, DeChambeau missed a 12-foot putt for birdie at the 72nd hole as Cantlay made his birdie from 20 feet, ensuring the playoff as both men shot six-under 66s to finish 27-under for the tournament.

Both men parred the first four holes of the playoff and made birdie twos at the next, but it was Cantlay who was playing the steadier golf. DeChambeau had to scramble to make par after finding water on the fourth extra hole, then missed from inside 10 feet on the sixth playoff hole while Cantlay coolly putted from 18 feet for the win.

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy claimed fourth place with a five-under 67 leaving him five shots off the pace, one behind third-placed Im Sungjae of South Korea, who also shot a 67.

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World No 6 DeChambeau appeared to have the tournament sewn up when he birdied the par-five 16th for a one-shot lead and watched 10th-ranked Cantlay hit into the water on the 17th.

But Cantlay recovered with a 100-yard wedge shot to within eight-feet to make bogey. DeChambeau also bogeyed after two-putting from 12 feet, and their birdie-par results on the 18th forced the playoff.

The two American Ryder Cup team-mates had moments of tension. DeChambeau rolled his eyes repeatedly as Cantlay marked and studied two-foot putts on the front nine. Cantlay was walking up the 14th fairway as DeChambeau prepared to hit his approach shot, ultimately backing out and asking Cantlay to stop walking.

Victory gave Cantlay a tour-leading third win of the season and sealed the sixth and final Ryder Cup slot.

After finishing in a share of 26th Ireland's Shane Lowry was left in 45th place in the FedEx Cup standings. The Offaly native hit a seven-under 65 to leave him 13-under overall. The top 30 in FedEx Cup points qualified for the Tour Championship finale at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

Collated final scores and totals (USA unless stated, Par 72)

261 Patrick Cantlay 66 63 66 66, Bryson DeChambeau 68 60 67 66 (Patrick Cantlay won playoff at the 6th hole)

265 Sung Jae Im (Kor) 67 65 66 67

266 Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 64 70 65 67

267 Erik van Rooyen (Rsa) 67 68 67 65

268 Sergio Garcia (Esp) 65 67 67 69, Dustin Johnson 67 70 65 66

269 Sam Burns 64 70 65 70

270 Abraham Ancer (Mex) 66 67 66 71, Jon Rahm (Esp) 64 66 70 70, Alexander Noren (Swe) 71 66 67 66

271 Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Kor) 69 69 66 67, Webb Simpson 67 72 66 66, Harold Varner III 67 70 69 65

272 Tony Finau 67 72 70 63, Jason Kokrak 73 68 65 66

273 Viktor Hovland (Nor) 70 69 68 66, Kevin Na 72 65 69 67, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 71 66 68 68, Hudson Swafford 67 66 68 72, Aaron Wise 69 66 71 67

274 Corey Conners (Can) 70 70 69 65, Brooks Koepka 70 67 69 68, Scottie Scheffler 73 66 68 67, Justin Thomas 68 71 69 66

275 Daniel Berger 68 71 70 66, Harris English 69 70 71 65, Shane Lowry (Irl) 71 68 71 65

276 Cameron Davis (Aus) 73 67 67 69, Brian Harman 69 69 70 68, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 74 71 65 66, Sebastian Munoz (Col) 67 68 72 69, Joaquin Niemann (Chi) 68 74 68 66

277 Patton Kizzire 69 72 68 68, Cameron Smith (Aus) 68 72 69 68, Jordan Spieth 71 70 70 66, Lee Westwood (Eng) 71 70 67 69

278 Paul Casey (Eng) 68 68 70 72, Stewart Cink 69 74 66 69, Lucas Glover 68 67 73 70, Charley Hoffman 69 71 68 70, Matt Jones (Aus) 69 70 71 68, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 71 74 64 69, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 69 70 72 67, Harry Higgs 72 67 71 68

279 Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 67 73 73 66, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 67 69 72 71

280 Chris Kirk 71 71 68 70

281 Xander Schauffele 67 68 75 71, Tom Hoge 69 71 71 70

282 Marc Leishman (Aus) 69 76 68 69

283 Branden Grace (Rsa) 75 71 68 69, Billy Horschel 71 72 73 67, Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 69 71 70 73, Kevin Streelman 71 70 70 72, Cameron Tringale 73 71 70 69

284 Talor Gooch 69 71 74 70, Ryan Palmer 68 75 69 72, Keith Mitchell 72 70 73 69

285 Keegan Bradley 67 76 72 70, Russell Henley 72 73 73 67, Robert Streb 73 71 69 72

286 Max Homa 72 72 73 69, Maverick McNealy 69 70 70 77, Collin Morikawa 72 75 70 69

287 Cameron Champ 70 74 72 71, Kevin Kisner 72 71 72 72, Phil Mickelson 68 77 68 74, Carlos Ortiz (Mex) 68 74 75 70