Walker ran off nine pars in a row on the front nine of the final round but had Day and British Open champion Henrik Stenson breathing down on his neck, one shot back at the turn.
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But this loss was different.
Jimmy Walker kisses the trophy after winning the PGA Championship golf tournament at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., Sunday, July 31, 2016.
Good morning! Here are the plays everybody will be talking about on Monday. He has a major, and that can never be taken away.
Walker, 37, finished at 14-under-par 268 after a final-round 67.
It is kind of hard to beat yourself up over that. “But you know what, at the end of the day, I came in here with not the greatest preparation. I think everyone expects if you’re in the lead or if you’re a favourite to win, they expect you to win, and if you don’t, then you’re in a slump”, said Day.
“I played great that week, I really did, but it’s not fun not winning”.
Walker will have to wait until the Masters next April before he can try to win another major, but at least he can now celebrate a first with coach Butch Harmon.
Perhaps at some other time he will rue all the close calls.
The birdie ended up as the cushion he required, all thanks to Day’s finishing eagle.
McGirt’s first PGA Tour victory in early June at the Memorial provided a three-year exemption for full playing privileges and greatly altered not only his schedule, but his goals. He was in his mid-30s before he broke the world top 100 but marked himself out as one to watch with five wins in an 18-month period between 2013 and 2015.
With this week’s PGA Championship being the last chance to earn double the Ryder Cup points at a major, it became one of the most important toward deciding the final roster. From Scotland, he headed to Toronto to defend his title at the Canadian Open.
Walker played so well in one of the strangest PGA Championships in recent memory that he led wire to wire.
When Walker knocked in the 3-footer, there were two winners. Maybe that was the difference at Baltusrol? I never felt like I brought my A game. Just making the Tour Championship would provide automatic entry to the exclusive fields of the USA and British Opens, the Players Championship, WGC-Cadillac Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Four-times major victor McIlroy concurred.
“There’s going to be people that play 18 holes like Kevin Kisner and he’s going to have a little bit more of an advantage”, said Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo, level with Day for third.
The circumstances surrounding the weather and the way the final two rounds unfolded also did not help Day.
We’ve picked out a number of shots from the third and fourth rounds on a marathon Sunday following Saturday’s storms, with Thongchai Jaidee and Adam Scott both contributing brilliant hole-outs from the fairway.
But had the situation been normal, Day’s third-round 67 would have put him in a final pairing with Walker, who had his own issues to deal with in trying to win his first major.
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It was just an average day, as I said. The Australian eagled the last, putting the pressure on Walker to make the par that would seal victory. If the latter would have happened, he would have had to take a one stroke penalty and drop his ball in the sand. I knew exactly where I stood. And he was gracious in defeat, waiting beside the green to congratulate Walker and his family.
