The 22nd BMW PGA Championship ended with an American winner and a French driver of a car that is not yet on sale. J.J. Spaun took the DP World Tour’s flagship title on his Wentworth debut, while Frédéric Lacroix aced the 14th hole to claim this year’s hole-in-one prize: the new all-electric BMW iX5 xDrive60 M Sport. BMW says the first versions of the new X5 reach the market in late November 2026, with the battery-electric and plug-in hybrid variants following in early 2027.
Golf’s biggest prizes are usually cheques. At the Wentworth Club this weekend, one of them came with a charging port.
Frenchman Frédéric Lacroix holed his tee shot on the 14th during the final round of the 22nd BMW PGA Championship — a 7-iron from 149 metres (163 yards) and his first hole-in-one on the DP World Tour. The reward was the tournament’s hole-in-one prize, the new all-electric BMW iX5 xDrive60 M Sport, making him one of the first customers of a battery-electric X5.
“A hole-in-one is always special but this is extra, it’s a very special moment. We were in between clubs, 7 and 8. It’s an awkward little hole, because you can’t really feel the wind down there. We just made a decision, close to the 8, but in the end I hit a 7, it was a lovely shot.”
The first electric X5
The car Lacroix has won is significant beyond the golf. BMW describes it as the first battery-electric BMW X5 in the model’s history, part of a fifth-generation X5 that the company says brings a new design and technology carried over from its Neue Klasse generation of electric cars. The X5 helped create the large premium SUV segment when it launched in 1999, and BMW frames the new car as a defence of that position.
The manufacturer has not published performance, battery or range figures for the iX5 xDrive60 in this release, and no price was stated. What BMW has confirmed is timing: the first variants of the new X5 go on sale in late November 2026, with the all-electric and plug-in hybrid versions arriving in early 2027. That puts the electric X5 into a segment where it will face the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV, the Audi Q8 e-tron’s successor and the Porsche Cayenne Electric.
Only the sixth car handed over
Lacroix is the sixth player to win a car at the BMW PGA Championship. Two prizes were awarded in both 2015 — Andrew Johnston took a BMW M4 Coupé and Chris Wood a BMW i8 — and 2016, when Scott Jamieson won a BMW M2 Coupé and James Morrison a BMW i8 Protonic Red Edition. David Howell aced the same 14th hole in 2020; with the tournament played during the Covid-19 pandemic, BMW donated the value of the 530e xDrive Touring, £71,675, to the Alzheimer’s Society. That year also produced the only albatross in the tournament’s history, Ross Fisher’s shot on the 18th, which earned him a BMW i8 Roadster Rosso Corsa.
Spaun wins on debut
The title went to J.J. Spaun, playing the event for the first time. The American closed on 271 strokes (70, 66, 68, 67; 17 under par), picking up four birdies over the last five holes to become the third American winner after Arnold Palmer in 1975 and Billy Horschel in 2021 and 2024.
Rory McIlroy, Aaron Rai, Adam Scott and Manuel Elvira shared second on 15 under. Elvira had drawn level with Spaun with an eagle at the 17th before a double bogey at the par-5 last. Ryan Fox, Matt Fitzpatrick, Joost Luiten and Filippo Celli shared sixth on 14 under. BMW put attendance across the week at more than 120,000.
Facts: BMW iX5 xDrive60 M Sport
- Powertrain: all-electric (full technical data not yet released)
- Model: fifth-generation BMW X5, first battery-electric X5
- Technology: elements from BMW’s Neue Klasse generation
- New X5 market launch: late November 2026 (first variants)
- Electric and plug-in hybrid versions: early 2027
- Price: not stated
BMW has yet to publish full specifications or pricing for the iX5 xDrive60; those are expected ahead of the electric model’s launch in early 2027.
Source: www.press.bmwgroup.com