“It’s nice to put the other shirts on for a little bit and now I have to go put the other ones on and go out to work again”, Beem said after his Saturday round.
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With Jason Day right on his tail, Walker’s clutch birdie on the 17th hole made the difference.
Day, the world No. 1 and defending champion this week, played some great golf in the wet conditions but couldn’t match the pace of Jimmy Walker. That means the “Big Three” of Day, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy went major-less in 2016.
An eagle putt from Day on the 18th green ensured a nervy finish, but Walker’s consistency was too strong. Day, Streb and Walker were among those girding for a 36-hole fight at the year’s final major tournament under rain and overcast skies as 11 others were within three shots of the lead. The 37-year-old American captured the first major championship of his career at Baltusrol Golf Club.
“It’s surreal. I mean, it really is”, he told reporters. “Sometimes pars are hard”. “We haven’t got time to recharge”.
He started his final round with two bogeys in the opening three holes and, after wiping the slate clean with two birdies before the turn to pull within one, he lost his radar on the back nine.
On Sunday, Daniel Summerhays finished third with a 10-under 270 total after he carded 66 in the final round, while Branden Grace, Hideki Matsuyama and Brooks Koepka shared the fourth place at nine-under 271. The pair met during a practice round at the 2000 U.S. Amateur.
Jason Day had another near miss at a major championship, but not before he gave a major scare to eventual victor Jimmy Walker on the 72nd hole of the Australian’s defence of the PGA Championship.
In 2008, Walker called and asked Sanders to join him as his caddie on the PGA Tour.
PGA Championship victor Jimmy Walker felt parts of his game coming together before clinching his maiden major title.
“It was nice to get the eagle, just to try and make Jimmy think about it”, Day said after a 67. “We just felt for the fair play of a major championship we needed to play preferred lies in the final round”. Desperate to beat the clock and avoid a second straight Monday finish at Baltusrol, the pairings stayed the same for the final round.
The victory completed a streak of first-time major winners in 2016, as England’s Danny Willett (Masters), Dustin Johnson (U.S. Open), and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson (Open Championship) each captured their elusive firsts this year.
Walker climbs from No. 29 to No. 4 in the Ryder Cup standings, basically guaranteeing him a spot on the 12-man United States of America team for the showdown against Europe, which is two months away.
Stephan Jaeger broke one more Web.com Tour record and tied another Sunday in the Ellie Mae Classic, finishing his four-day scoring frenzy at TPC Stonebrae at 30-under 250. He would however hole the bunker shot there for birdie and then holed a lengthy birdie putt at the next to get to 13 under and at that point had moved two ahead of Day.
He played a solid round before birdies on the 10th and 11th put him 13 under.
He played a lob out of the gnarly rough and the ball came to rest some 33 feet on the quick side of the hole. “But he’s handled himself pretty good”.
“I woke up at 5 o’clock this morning and we’re done now at 7:30pm, so it was a long day playing 36 holes, especially under the circumstances. And I don’t know, I gave him a couple things and he ended up winning that week”. He’s won three times, second in a major.
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He built a three-shot lead with an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-5 17th, only to watch Day blast a 2-iron onto the green at the par-5 18th to 15 feet for an eagle, setting off the loudest cheer of the week and closing the margin to one shot. He did all he could and it just wasn’t enough.
