Eight years later, at the place they first met, the duo achieved a goal they have been reaching for their entire lives.
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This should go down smoothly.
Jimmy Walker has won the US PGA Champinship with a dramatic putt on the final hole.
But the defending champion proved he deserves his title as the best player in the game with one last-gasp hurrah which briefly sent the heart rate of those in the Walker camp upwards.
Walker and Day were playing with occasional mud on their golf balls on the back nine of the third round Sunday morning as some players behind them were able to lift, clean and place their golf balls in short grass in the fourth round. He will focus more on the mental part of his game, which he said hurt him Thursday and Friday, as he seeks his first victory since the 2013 British Open. But unfortunately that’s been the case this week because on the weekend this golf course was set up to be flawless for a major championship. “I seemed to make a big key putt, long putt, every day this week”.
Jimmy’s bogey free final day – well actually final round, because he played 36 holes on Sunday, was fantastic.
“God, just to be in it and be there and have a chance and then to finish it off is just.it’s so gratifying”, Walker said.
Trailing by three shots, the world number one crushed a two-iron approach from 258 yards to 14 feet at the par-five 18th and made the putt for eagle to force Walker to make par to win by one. For, Walker was at that moment about to strike his 8-foot birdie on the previous hole, and he had to back off due to the roar that erupted from Day’s gallery as he sunk his eagle putt.
Walker never looked concern, even if his heart was pounding.
“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.
“It’s just great to be in the position to be in contention and give this title defense a really good shot at winning it again”, Day said.”It would have been nice to repeat”. He pitched to 30 feet from a lush lie and bore down over a two-putt that ended with a 3-footer for the trophy.
Harmon had a right to save the wine until his latest client won a major, because Walker appeared to have all the goods.
“Me and him have been like bus partners for awhile now”, Day said. Meanwhile 10-time Tour victor Day notched his fourth runner-up finish in the majors. Last year, some thought he was overlooked for the Presidents Cup team.
Somewhere along the way, his confidence took a hit and it was becoming tougher to recover from a few wild tee shots. “I’ll be fresh and excited to go out in the Ryder Cup, too”.
One week changed everything.
The 37-year-old held his nerve to par the final hole and win by a shot from Australian Day, who had eagled the last to pile on the pressure, and Walker admitted that the feeling was “surreal”.
Both men travel to PGA Tour events with their families in luxurious motorhomes and Day added: “He’s a tremendous bloke”. We’re always parked right next to each other, always hanging out.
Four-times major victor McIlroy concurred.
The third and fourth rounds were going on at the same time and with different rules. But Jimmy made that putt to have a one shot lead on Jason with one hole to play.
On Monday morning, Walker was headed to NY for a media tour before taking some time to digest what happened.
With his solid performance last week, Streb moved up in the FedExCup rankings to 88th and in the official World Golf Rankings to 63rd.
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“That’s a question for Butch. He basically just instils a lot of confidence in the player and that certainly was the case with Jimmy”, he said.
