DANNY Willett won his second Rolex Series title as he held his nerve down the stretch to overcome Jon Rahm in a dramatic final round of the BMW PGA Championship.

The duo had been locked together since the end of round two at Wentworth Golf Club and went blow for blow over the weekend in an enthralling battle in front of bumper crowds at the European Tour's flagship event.

Willett jumped out into a two-shot lead with two early birdies on Sunday and while Rahm kept the pressure on during a round where the momentum was as changeable as the autumn weather, Willett signed for a closing 67 to get to 20-under-par and claim a three-shot win.

South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout was then at -16 after a 68, a shot clear of American duo Billy Horschel and Patrick Reed.

After missing the cut at this event last season, Willett was 462nd in the Official World Golf Ranking as his struggle for both form and fitness continued after his victory at the 2016 Masters Tournament.

A sensational maiden Rolex Series victory six months later at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, represented a stunning return to the top of the game and the Englishman is now back in the top 40 in the world.

The victory also makes him the fourth player to win multiple Rolex Series events alongside Rahm, Alex Noren and Justin Rose, and the eighth to win both the BMW PGA Championship and the Masters.

"It doesn't get much better does it?" he said. "An emotional week.

"It was a good battle out there with myself more than anyone else and it was nice to come through the other side.

"(I've had) an undying want to get back there. I was willing to change whatever had to be changed and I think that's pretty hard to do, it's hard to jump full throttle into something that you're not quite sure if it's going to work out or not.

"I was able to jump in there and I had the correct people around me. All the work we've put in has come forward."

Willett got off to a brilliant start, holing a 25-footer on the second and then putting his approach to 12 feet at the third to jump into a two-shot lead.

Rahm made a two-putt birdie on the par five next to trim the advantage, but Willett put his second to four feet over the water at the eighth and led by two at the turn.

A stunning tee shot on the tenth from the leader piled the pressure on Rahm, but the World No. 6 holed from 18 feet and the lead stayed at two as Willett followed him in.

Willett was in huge trouble as he sent his tee shot on the 11th a long way right and then found heather followed by a bunker, and he had to hole a 40-footer for a remarkable bogey to stay ahead.

Rahm played a poor chip with his third shot on the par five next and surrendered a bogey, but the lead was back to one on the 13th as he put an approach to six feet.

The two-shot advantage was re-established on the 14th, however, as Rahm found sand off the tee and failed to get up-and-down.

Both players got up-and-down from the front of the green on the 17th for birdies and Willett claimed a two-putt birdie on the last as Rahm saved par after putting his second in the water.

"I'm not going to lie, it hurts, it stings," said Rahm. "I played good all week and up until the 13th hole I was incapable of hitting an iron close to the pin and made a couple of stupid mistakes. I'm just going to have to figure out why it happened and that's it."

Bezuidenhout made five birdies and a single bogey in a 68, while a chip-in eagle on the fourth was the highlight of a second 65 of the week for Horschel, who was making his Wentworth debut having grown up watching this event.

Reed carded a bogey-free 66 to sit alongside his countryman, two shots clear of Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello and Scot Richie Ramsay.

Home hero Justin Rose was then at 12 under, one clear of World No. 2 Rory McIlroy and England's Andrew Johnston.