Women walk by the 18th hole after third round play was suspend for the day at the PGA Championship golf tournament at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., Saturday, July 30, 2016.
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In an era dominated by American players, Tony Jacklin bucked the trend at Royal Lytham & St Annes to become the first British victor at The Open for 18 years with a final round 72 seeing him finish two shots clear of Bob Charles.
Persistent heavy rain then left parts of the course flooded before play was finally abandoned for the day shortly before 6pm local time (11pm BST).
“I think this 67 was better than the previous two so I just hope I can pick up some timing with my long game”.
“Sometimes, things just don’t come easy”, Walker said after hoisting the 37-pound Wanamaker Trophy, unbelievable that he had any strength left after a 36-hole final day brought on my rain over the weekend.
In April at the ANA in California, Jutanugarn – at the time, best known for blowing a two-stroke lead with a closing triple bogey at age 17 in the 2013 LPGA Thailand – bogeyed the final three holes to hand the major title to Lydia Ko.
Despite falling just short, Day said he couldn’t be disappointed with his performance.
Daniel Summerhays: His final-round 66 allowed him to jump clear into third place at 10 under, three strokes behind Walker.
In a PGA Championship that was affected by weather on more than a few occasions, it was a first-time major victor who took home the championship. From there he got to the green and needed to two-putt for the win.
Day’s second-place finish on Sunday was his fourth at a major and the 28-year-old added: “I just want to win, that’s all”.
Phil Mickelson, who won the PGA the last time it was played at Baltusrol in 2005 and finished at 3 under this week, was asked if the PGA of America’s decision to go with the preferred lies would inspire other majors to handle the same situation in the future.
More unbelievable than Walker playing bogey-free for his first major was that the PGA Championship even finished.
He finished at 14-under 266, one shot from David Toms’ record score in the 2001 PGA Championship.
The chaotic week full of storms, delays and odd decisions by tournament officials was behind Walker and the weight of trying to win his first major title wasn’t an issue.
Heading into the final day six shots behind joint leaders Arnold Palmer and Stan Leonard, Art Wall Jr produced a stunning round of 66, including five birdies in his last five holes, to win the Masters by a single stroke from Cary Middlecoff. But thanks to Day, his work wasn’t done yet.
Day, who started the final round a shot behind Walker, matched the victor with a 3-under 67. “I had to step up and do something and I hit two good shots with my two-iron”.
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“It was a test today, it really was”, said Walker. As darkness closed in, though, not even sinking that eagle putt on the finishing par 5 was enough for the world’s No. 1 player.
