While Day provided last-gasp drama at number 18, Walker deservedly has his name etched on the Wannamaker trophy. 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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And after making the call to play at Baltusrol, he was dealt another tough break when Saturday’s storms forced him to play 36 holes Sunday. Maybe he could have pressured Walker a bit, goaded him into a few mistakes.
Yet Day’s reaction on his way to the green on the final hole told the story of the competition.
One hole ahead, Jason Day had other ideas.
But Day sank a 14-foot eagle putt at the 18th to reach the clubhouse at 13 under with Walker on the 18th fairway.
The golf year started with buzz about the dominance of a new Big Three of Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy that echoed the storied days of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player.
For Walker, this breakthrough appeared certain two years ago, then began to retract beneath the specter of inconsistent putting. Walker hit almost everything close those two days.
“I had to make par, pars are hard but I made it”.
“I saw Davis this week”, Walker said of USA captain Davis Love, “and I told him, ‘Man, I’d love to be on your team'”. The putt had just enough to hang on and trickle into the cup, giving Walker his three-shot lead.
“I figured birdieing 17 was huge, and that was going to cap it off”. What could go wrong?
Even Stenson briefly got in on the act until Walker made another birdie on 13 as The Open victor was on his way to a double-bogey on 15. Walker held a two-stroke lead over Day after 11 holes in the final round. Even afterward, Walker said he would play the hole the same way again. Didn’t let me hit a shot until I was ready. It’s pretty emotional. I mean, he grinded it out this week.
From that point, Walker chased the smart par. Then he would have had an easy pitch unto to the green for a likely easy two-putt to win.
“Hit the right shots at the right time and any of the shots that I didn’t hit well didn’t do me any harm”, he said.
“I kinda lost hold of my golf swing there for a while in the morning, but the afternoon was better”.
“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.
On 17, Day regrettably missed a birdie that would have reduced the margin to one stroke.
G.S.: Well, yeah, especially if you looked at his finish in the majors prior to this year, he hadn’t done much.
However, the 44-year-old Dubliner was unable to make any further inroads and eventually had to settle for a 68 to finish six under par.
“I think it shows that everybody out here playing is really good, and everybody’s got a chance to win”, Walker said on Sunday (Monday NZ time) after a bogey-free final round at rain-battered Baltusrol capped by a last three-foot par putt that kept world No 1 Day at bay.
Only eight times in PGA Championship history has the victor been ahead after the completion of each round.
At the 2000 U.S. Amateur, Walker didn’t qualify for the 64-man match play, but Sanders did and lost in the first round. Instead, Sanders chose to caddie for Jason Schultz in 2007.
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“We both felt great all week”, Walker said. “We’re just talking about buses all the time. It was great. I think it’s exactly what I needed to do”.
