Because while Walker held the lead, Jason Day was the betting favorite before the weekend. They park their RVs side by side at every tournament, talk about their rides and watch their kids play together. “He’s a top bloke”.
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This year he’d been winless mostly because his putting had been inconsistent, but nobody in the golf world was surprised to see him win a major because he’s considered a world-class ball-striker.
There were 10 golfers, including Walker and Day, who played 36 holes Sunday after the third round was suspended Saturday after heavy rains saturated the course. Give the tournament organizers credit for pushing hard to get a finish Sunday night, but because time didn’t allow for re-pairing after Round 3, Walker didn’t have the pressure of dealing with Day staring him down in the same group. At the end of third round, he led Day by one and that’s how the final score stayed as both carded 67 each. He’ll make the team and with the confidence that comes with winning a major title, his calm demeanor and smart play should lead to more success. “Great stuff, mate”, Day said to the new PGA champ.
Walker revealed that he had considered the safe option of laying up at the par five 18th before opting to try and find the green, adding: “I figured 19 times out of 20 you’re going to make a five going for the green from right there”.
The last Monday finish in a major was just previous year at the British Open because of heavy rain that flooded St. Andrews.
Still, Fowler noticed a spark in Walker’s game during their money matches in the practice rounds. Just two weeks ago, he was competing in Scotland, and although he didn’t contend at The Open, he was there for four days.
Four-times major victor McIlroy concurred. Until 2014 Gleneagles I’d been away for more than a decade but I have always adored it.
Jutanugarn had a six-stroke lead at the turn, but Lee picked up five strokes on the next four holes with three straight birdies and Jutanugarn’s double bogey on the 13. Walker, addressing his birdie putt at 17, heard the roar of he crowd and backed off.
The defending champion had said, after completing his first 18 holes on a marathon closing Sunday at Baltusrol, that he was “excited” for the afternoon chase. What could go wrong? He made par there like it was no problem. “I didn’t mean to”. He safely pitched to 35 feet, and the putt settled 3 feet beyond the hole.
“It’s surreal. I just had not quite played as well as I would have liked to this year”, the world No.48 said.
“I think that I’m going to have to play some really good golf the week of the Ryder Cup if we’re going to do well”, he said. “Kind of tried to wrap myself around that; that everything was feeling good, and to go with that and trust what I was doing”.
But he was tested. It ended up being a little tester.
“The eagle was really nice”, Day said.
Phil Mickelson won the 2005 PGA Championship when tournament organizers took a gamble on not moving up the Sunday tee times because of rain in the forecast, and it cost them. But this is the PGA, not the U.S. Open, and a player needs birdies.
Eight years later, after ending his playing career because of health issues, Sanders reconnected with Walker to become his caddie.
“I was standing out there on the fairway and Andy [Sanders, caddie] and I both said, “let’s go for it””. We talked this week about us meeting here. “We talked about us meeting here and we [told] the story a few times this week”. “I think that’s what golf is”.
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This article was written by Mark Wogenrich from The Morning Call and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
