BMW Championship: Zach Johnson wins outstanding tournament – Thrilling final round on Monday. 130,000 enjoy – including sporting celebrities – witnessed Furyk’s record round of 59, Mahan’s hole-in-one for a BMW i3, and Donald’s comeback at his home club of Conway Farms.

Chicago. A remarkable BMW Championship reached its conclusion one day later than scheduled in Chicago. When the players returned on Monday, Zach Johnson (USA, -16) clinched the coveted title at the penultimate Playoff tournament on the PGA TOUR, which was held at Conway Farms Golf Club for the first time. The 2007 Masters winner came through against a world-class field, featuring this season’s top 70 players Stateside, and now heads to Thursday’s TOUR Championship in Atlanta ranked fourth in the FedExCup. Nick Watney (USA, -14) and Jim Furyk (USA, -13) finished second and third behind the 37-year-old. The win was Johnson’s tenth on the PGA TOUR.

World number one Tiger Woods (USA, -9) had to settle for a share of 11th place. However, this proved sufficient to earn Woods top spot and relegate Henrik Stenson (SWE, -1) from first to second in the FedExCup rankings. As well as Woods, Stenson and Johnson, Adam Scott (AUS, -2) in third and Matt Kuchar (USA, -3) in fifth complete the top five ahead of the final tournament of the PGA TOUR season. Johnson’s victory at the end of a thrilling final round was the dramatic conclusion to a tournament week packed with highlights and records.

“I am honoured to be the 2013 BMW champion. It has been a great week here at Conway Farms,” said Johnson after the final round, which was concluded on Monday after heavy rain caused play to be suspended on Sunday. “It was a week of perseverance and patience. I got off to a great start. Conditions were excellent. Today was just a day of hole-to-hole, plotting my way around, and I putted phenomenally today. I haven't putted like that in weeks. It's nice having everything come together, especially in a final round at a tournament as important as the BMW Championship.”

Johnson started the day three shots off behind overnight leader Jim Furyk, but moved into the lead after a three-under front nine that featured back-to-back birdies on holes seven and eight. With Nick Watney storming up the leaderboard on his way to a round of 64 that ultimately earned him the runner-up spot, Johnson held his nerve on the back nine and picked up another birdie on the 12th to keep pace with both Watney and Furyk. The decisive phase of play came right at the end of this extraordinary tournament: with Watney already back in the clubhouse on -14, Furyk dropped shots 13 and 16, while Johnson picked up a brace of vital birdies on 16 and 17 to finally give himself some breathing space at the top of the leaderboard. A par on the 18th proved sufficient to earn Johnson victory and a cheque for 1,440,000 dollars.

The fact that the BMW Championship had to be delayed by a day for the first time ever was in keeping with a spectacular tournament, during which you never quite knew what was going to happen next. The many well-known figures from other sports who visited the tournament were treated to a feast of everything that makes golf so special. Like Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan’s brilliant team-mate when the Chicago Bulls won the NBA six times in the 1980s, and Curt Tomasevicz, who won the first Olympic bob gold for the USA since 1948 at the 2010 Winter Games, Chicago Bears NFL stars Robbie Gould, Patrick Mannelly, Adam Podlesh and Shea McClellin also took the time to check out the sporting and social highlight on the outskirts of Chicago.

At the start of the week, defending champion Rory McIlroy tested the all-new, fully-electric BMW i3 in a fun race against his American counterpart Gary Woodland. The golf stars were impressed by the speed and handling of the zero-emission carbon car, which was also to play a major role later on in the tournament.

Before then, however, Jim Furyk stole the headlines. The American showed no fear of Friday 13th as he earned himself a place in the PGA TOUR history books. While most of the top golfers in the field were struggling with the strong, gusty winds that were making life difficult on day two at Conway Farms Golf Club, the unruffled 43-year-old produced a magical record-equaling round. By the end of the day, the 2010 FedExCup champion’s scorecard featured just 59 shots – the lowest score ever on the PGA TOUR, and one that an exclusive group of only five pros had achieved before him.

Day three also produced a historic moment, when Hunter Mahan won a Hole-in-One Car for the first time in the history of the BMW Championship. The 31-year-old American needed just one shot on the 17th hole (par 3, 190 metres) and is now the proud owner of a BMW i3. As the world’s first premium automobile designed from scratch purely for electrical mobility, the BMW i3 is the first production vehicle built predominantly from carbon.

Luke Donald (ENG, -11) provided another barely believable story. The 2011 and 2012 BMW PGA Champion, a member at Conway Farms, was scrapping for his FedExCup life. Donald came into the BMW Championship ranked 54th and in need of a high finish to qualify for the TOUR Championship. For 63 holes it looked unlikely, as the ever-steady Donald made pedestrian progress up the leaderboard with a succession of pars. However, the European Ryder Cup star then carded five birdies in the last seven holes to climb into a tie for fourth place and sneak into the top 30 of the FedExCup in 28th to book his place at the season finale.

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