Jimmy Walker walks down the 13th fairway during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., Sunday, July 31, 2016.
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That par gave him a 3-under 67 and a one-shot victory and made the 37-year-old from Texas a major champion. The outcome was still in doubt until Walker missed the green to the right, pitched out of deep rough to 35 feet and rolled his first putt about 3 feet past the cup. He never felt more nerves over such a short putt, but there was never a doubt. This seems to be the story for the major championship on the PGA Tour lately.
Day, trying to join Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners of the PGA Championship in stroke play, came to the 18th green to watch the finish and quickly found Walker. Desperate to beat the clock, they sent the third-round pairings right back out for the final round, meaning Walker was playing the third round as others were playing the final round.
Better yet: It moved him from No. 29 to No. 4 in the Ryder Cup standings, all but assuring him a spot on the team. Defending champ at the PGA, the guy who shot 20-under previous year at Whistling Straits and never opened the door a crack for Spieth on the back nine, even though Spieth kept coming.
He shot 68-67 on Sunday to finish at 14-under 266, one shot from David Toms’ record score in the 2001 PGA Championship.
The last five groups did not make it out onto the course on Saturday before an approaching thunderstorm forced play to be suspended at 2:15pm local time (7:15pm BST).
A run of nine straight pars was enough to keep Walker’s nose in front before the world number 48 – the lowest ranked major victor since world number 108 Keegan Bradley won the 2011 US PGA – doubled his lead in brilliant fashion by holing out from a bunker on the 10th. He did a great job fighting back, ultimately putting pressure on Walker to par the last holes, but he just didn’t consistently have it this week.
The victor finished at 16-under 272 on the Marquess Course, the hilly, forest layout that is a big change from the usual seaside layouts in the tournament rotation.
The 28-year-old Queenslander has also now joined elite company as a runner-up at all four major championships.
Walker jumped out to a lead heading into Sunday’s final round, then fired three holes on the back nine to hold off Day by one stroke at 14-under 199. Jutanugarn closed with a par, and Lee made a bogey for a 73.
Bipolar weather had dogged the tournament almost from the start with a quarter-inch of rain overnight on Thursday leading to a late start on Friday, but not until the following day had it become the prevailing narrative.
Martin, the 2014 victor at Royal Birkdale, shot a 70.
“The two-iron into the green was probably one of the best two-irons I’ve ever hit into a par-five, especially under the circumstances”, Day told reporters. But after a flash storm early on Sunday afternoon that did not require a stoppage, the players could complete their final rounds beneath overcast skies and in sweltering humidity.
Walker held the 18-hole lead and shared the advantage with Streb after 36 before reclaiming it through 54.
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Because of rain, the 36-hole final was the longest in PGA Championship history since Jim Turnesa won his 36-hole match in 1952. “He had been playing decent, he said, but the putts weren’t going in and the balls weren’t rolling in like he wanted it to”.
