Jon Rahm victorious in Chicago after stunning 66-foot putt

Spaniard pips world number one Dustin Johnson in play-off as Rory McIlroy falls back

Jon Rahm celebrates his victory in Chicago.Photograph: Tannen Maury/EPA

Jon Rahm sunk a putt from 66 feet to take the BMW Championship after Dustin Johnson forced a play-off in Chicago.

American Johnson conjured some magic of his own on the green with a 43 foot putt on the 18th taking him level with his Spanish opponent on four under.

It could have been a different story had Rahm not incurred a penalty shot in his third round for a marking error, but he made up for it with a final round of 64 completing a miraculous turnaround after finishing Thursday tied for 51st place.

Rahm picked up two shots on the front nine and birdied the 15th and 16th for a final round some 11 shots better than his first.

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Johnson, who took the world No 1 ranking from Rahm with his stunning 30-under-par victory in Boston a week earlier, dropped shots on the eighth and 10th before his nervy putt at the last.

Needing a birdie to force a play-off, Johnson found the pin on the undulating green as the pair were forced to play the 18th again.

There, Rahm played perfectly from 66 feet as he and Johnson watched as the ball curved into the hole for a birdie three and his fifth win on the tour.

Speaking to the Golf Channel about Johnson’s putt at the 18th, Rahm said: “Knowing DJ and how good he has been playing, I expected nothing else.

“I was fully confident it was going to come into a playoff and hoping to win it.

“Never did I think I would make another 50, 60-footer, a couple of breaks in there, to end up winning it.”

Dustin Johnson was beaten in a play-off at Olympia Fields. Photograph: Stacy Revere/Getty

Only seven players made par or better for the tournament, with Joaquin Niemann and Hideki Matsuyama the best of the rest on two under, a shot ahead of Tony Finau who closed with a 65.

Jason Kokrak and England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick picked up four and three shots respectively on Sunday to finish equal par and four off the pace.

Further down the leaderboard were Rory McIlroy, whose closing 71 left him on three over and tied for 12th, a shot ahead of Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton.

Collated final round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour BMW Championship, Olympia Fields CC (North), Olympia Fields, Illinois (USA unless stated, par 70):

276 Jon Rahm (Spa) 75 71 66 64 (Rahm won play-off at first extra hole), Dustin Johnson 71 69 69 67

278 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 67 73 69 69, Joaquin Niemann (Chi) 72 71 68 67

279 Tony Finau 70 71 73 65

280 Jason Kokrak 74 71 69 66, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng) 70 75 68 67

281 Brendon Todd 73 68 71 69, Sebastian Munoz (Col) 70 75 67 69

282 Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 69 73 69 71, Lanto Griffin 70 73 70 69

283 Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 70 69 73 71, Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 73 74 68 68, Brian Harman 72 73 69 69, Patrick Cantlay 71 68 75 69

284 Matthew Wolff 72 71 74 67, Tyrrell Hatton (Eng) 73 70 71 70, Paul Casey (Eng) 73 72 71 68, Bubba Watson 72 70 70 72

285 Richy Werenski 74 72 70 69, Joel Dahmen 71 77 71 66, Cameron Smith (Aus) 75 73 68 69, Scottie Scheffler 75 72 72 66, Collin Morikawa 76 73 68 68

286 Carlos Ortiz (Mex) 70 74 72 70, Adam Scott (Aus) 72 69 70 75, Xander Schauffele 73 70 74 69, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 72 69 74 71, Daniel Berger 73 74 69 70, Justin Thomas 73 74 71 68, Russell Henley 74 69 70 73, Kevin Kisner 72 70 70 74

287 Brendan Steele 72 71 75 69, Danny Lee (Nzl) 73 72 74 68, Abraham Ancer (Mex) 70 74 70 73, Gary Woodland 75 70 74 68, Billy Horschel 70 71 74 72, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 72 75 69 71, Corey Conners (Can) 76 69 70 72

288 Alex Noren (Swe) 72 71 73 72, Viktor Hovland (Nor) 71 73 73 71, Adam Hadwin (Can) 74 72 73 69, Harris English 75 71 69 73, Maverick McNealy 77 70 73 68, Ryan Palmer 71 76 74 67, Jim Herman 71 72 73 72, Patrick Reed 73 71 72 72

289 Tyler Duncan 68 76 77 68, Charles Howell III 75 75 69 70

290 Bryson DeChambeau 73 70 75 72

291 Kevin Na 72 74 71 74, Tiger Woods 73 75 72 71, Mark Hubbard 70 77 69 75, Nick Taylor (Can) 75 72 73 71, Kevin Streelman 76 80 66 69

292 Harry Higgs 70 74 75 73, Adam Long 72 77 72 71, Sungjae Im (Kor) 77 74 72 69

293 JT Poston 72 77 73 71, Max Homa 74 72 70 77, Michael Thompson 72 73 72 76, Robby Shelton 75 72 71 75, Matt Kuchar 75 76 69 73

294 Jason Day (Aus) 76 74 76 68

295 Talor Gooch 76 79 71 69, Cameron Champ 77 74 70 74, Tom Hoge 71 73 75 76

301 Andrew Landry 77 75 74 75

310 Marc Leishman (Aus) 80 78 79 73