LEMONT, September 18, 2011 (AFP) - Britain's Justin Rose chipped in for a birdie from 11 yards out on Sunday's penultimate hole to hold off Australian John Senden and take a wire-to-wire victory at the US PGA BMW Championship.
In rainy conditions at Cog Hill, the 31-year-old Englishman, who opened with a 63 on Thursday, closed with a par 71 to finish 72 holes on 13-under par 271 and defeat Senden, who carded a 69 Sunday, by two strokes.
Rose made a bogey at the par-5 15th to leave him only one stroke ahead of Senden, but the chip-in at 17 helped him shake off a history of struggles with last-round leads and take the $1.44 million top prize of the $8 million event.
"I almost pulled out the chicken stick (putter) but I said it was a perfect chip," Rose said. "That was a moment where you had to just commit and do what you have to do to win a golf tournament."
Australia's Geoff Ogilvy fired a 69 to finish third on 274, two shots ahead of World No. 1 Luke Donald on England with American Webb Simpson fifth on 277.
The penultimate event of the US PGA playoffs decided the 30 season-point leaders for next week's Tour Championship, where a $10 million playoff prize will be awarded to the points champion, not necessarily the event winner.
Rose put himself third among the five overall point leaders who can claim the $10 million with a victory next week in Atlanta. Simpson, Donald and Americans Matt Kuchar and Dustin Johnson are also among the top five.
Ogilvy qualified for both the Tour Championship as well as the last spot on the Internationals team for the Presidents Cup against a US squad in November at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia after being borderline for each.
"I played really well," Ogilvy said. "It's pretty nice. When they tell you that you have to finish third it sounds easy but to actually do it was pretty good. It was a pretty frustrating day standing under the umbrella a lot."
Rewards for reaching the Tour Championship include Masters, British and US Open invitations as well as at least $300,000 in prize money for the week.
Senden needed a victory to have had any hope at making the Presidents Cup on points, but he could still be one of the captain's choices that Greg Norman will announce on September 27.
Rose and Senden booked themselves spots in the Tour Championship with their strong BMW showings and South Korean Yang Yong-Eun, on the cut line when the day began, snuck inside the top 30 at 28th, four spots behind Ogilvy.
Aussie Aaron Baddeley was 27th in points to make the Tour Championship field followed by Yang, Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson and American Bo Van Pelt.
Scotsman Martin Laird was 31st to barely miss the season-ending event with reigning Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa 32nd and Colombia's Camilo Villegas 33rd.
Laird opened with three bogeys in four holes but his charge of three birdies in the final five fell just short. Schwartzel took bogeys at three of the last four to drop out. Villegas fired a 66 to share sixth but also missed out.
Rose won titles last year at the US PGA Memorial and National events but blew a three-stroke lead to lose at Hartford last year and put himself at risk on Sunday.
Rose took a bogey at the par-3 second but birdied the par-3 sixth and par-4 seventh, boosting his lead to five strokes over Senden.
After finding wet rough on his approach at the par-5 ninth, Rose missed a 25-foot par putt while Senden birdied the ninth and 10th to trim the margin. Rose's bogey at the par-5 15th left him only ahead by one.
"I was grinding out there," Rose said. "I made some crazy shots on the par-5s and I had to have a little talk with myself."
After Senden missed a 40-foot birdie putt at 18, Rose rolled his 32-footer to the edge of the cup, tapped in for par to win and celebrated on the green with wife Kate and young son Leo.
"I've had my ups and downs. The learning curve is steep sometimes," Rose said. "But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
Leading scores on Sunday after the final round of the $8 million US PGA Tour BMW Championship (USA unless noted, par-71):
271 - Justin Rose (GBR) 63-68-69-71
273 - John Senden (AUS) 68-66-70-69
274 - Geoff Ogilvy (AUS) 69-68-68-69
276 - Luke Donald (GBR) 75-66-67-68
277 - Webb Simpson 65-68-73-71
278 - Camilo Villegas (COL) 73-68-71-66, Jason Dufner 71-68-71-68
279 - Chez Reavie 69-70-70-70
280 - Brandt Jobe 75-64-69-72
281 - David Toms 71-66-73-71, KJ Choi (KOR) 67-71-73-70
282 - YE Yang (KOR) 70-72-70-70, Robert Allenby (AUS) 69-67-75-71, Martin Laird (GBR) 72-69-68-73, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 69-72-67-74
283 - Carl Pettersson (SWE) 70-72-72-69, Ryan Moore 74-69-74-66, Jerry Kelly 71-74-68-70, Gary Woodland 70-68-73-72, Bill Haas 70-66-69-78, Keegan Bradley 71-66-70-76
...
284 - Aaron Baddeley (AUS) 71-71-75-67, Brendon de Jonge (ZIM) 75-64-74-71
285 - Brian Davis (GBR) 74-70-72-69
286 - Adam Scott (AUS) 74-70-74-68, Robert Karlsson (SWE) 69-71-74-72
287 - Ernie Els (RSA) 72-71-74-70, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 73-68-76-70, Marc Leishman (AUS) 71-71-74-71, Fredrik Jacobson (SWE) 72-73-70-72
289 - Jhonattan Vegas (VEN) 73-73-74-69, Jason Day (AUS) 77-65-73-74
291 - Andres Romero (ARG) 77-66-73-75
292 - Rory Sabbatini (RSA) 72-69-78-73
299 - Vijay Singh (FIJ) 76-75-75-73