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Willett wins at home for 1st time at BMW PGA Championship

Harry Trump / Getty Images Sport / Getty

VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) Former Masters champion Danny Willett outplayed Jon Rahm in the final group at Wentworth and closed with a 5-under 67 to win the BMW PGA Championship by three shots for his first victory on home soil in England.

Willett won for the seventh time in his career and moves back into the top 50 for the first time in two years.

He finished at 20-under 268. Rahm, tied with Willett going into the final round, shot 70 and finished alone in second. Rory McIlroy, who opened the European Tour flagship event with a 76, followed with rounds of 69-65-67 and tied for ninth, his 16th finish in the top 10 in 21 starts worldwide this year.

His biggest shot might have been for bogey. Willett drove wildly on the 11th, hit a tree trying to get back to the fairway, went into a bunker and finally reached the green with his fourth shot. He holed a 40-footer to escape with bogey and a one-shot lead. That was as close as Rahm got to him.

Willett still had a two-shot lead when Rahm found the water with his second shot on the par-5 18th.

Billy Horschel (65) and Patrick Reed (66) tied for fourth.

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