He birdied the second hole with a lovely up and down from a bunker and then started a huge push towards becoming the first Australian to win the PGA Championship since 1995 with three birdies in a row on five, six and seven, the last from a massive 50-feet. He finished at 8-under overall and looking like he would place among the top 20 at day’s end.
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McIlroy began his final round 90 minutes before the final pair of Day and Spieth and reached the turn in 34 with birdies on the sixth and seventh, before picking up another shot on the 10th. Both traveled 313 yards and landed in the fairway.
He was tearing up as he waited to hit the tap-in putt that would seal the victory.
More days like this, and Day might be challenging Spieth for that title, as well.
Former champion Martin Kaymer, who won here in 2010, is four off the lead after a bogey-free 65 playing alongside Grace, while halfway leader Matt Jones played his second shot on the ninth from a hospitality tent on his way to a 73 to finish 10 under. That’s Spieth’s consolation. And really, he had plenty of that as he left Whistling Straits.
Rose’s hopes suffered a potentially fatal blow when he found an awkward lie in a greenside bunker on the 13th and only just got the ball out at the first attempt, the resulting double bogey dropping him five off the lead.
Jason Day walks off the 18th green with his son Dash after winning the 2015 PGA Championship.
Lefty’s putter isn’t quite so friendly today.
Spotted on the course: A band of fans handing out T-shirts that read ‘Spieth for President, ‘ with a picture of the man himself, encircled by a red-white-and-blue flag logo.
The majors also are about resilience and no one doubted but that the gutsy Australian was up for the fight, but in his desire to win would he show enough composure when it mattered most?
A nice ending to the major season for a player who has endured some close calls and his share of heartache.
If Spieth wins, this would mark the first time since 1982 that Americans swept the majors.
The remarkable 22-year-old claimed the Masters in April before landing the U.S. Open in June, then tied for fourth in last month’s British Open at St. Andrews – one stroke short of joining a playoff.
Jason Day ended Jordan Spieth’s dreams of golfing immortality and made history of his own as he lifted the PGA Championship title at Whistling Straits Sunday.
The final round of the final major of the year is under way.
“It would have been hard to shoot 8 under and go 15 under for the weekend”, said Spieth, who worked his way into the mix by shooting 30 on the back nine Saturday.
Thirty of the 77 players shot rounds in the 60s on Saturday.
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) – Jason Day rolled in a 50-foot putt for one of his four birdies on the front nine Sunday as he built a three-shot lead in the PGA Championship.
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Day responded superbly with a birdie from 25 feet on the 17th to shoot 66 and finish 15 under par, two shots clear of Spieth with England’s Justin Rose and South African Branden Grace a shot further back.
