He has been the best golfer over the past year and the defending champion at the time.
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Though Walker felt some improvement last week at the Canadian Open, he’d struggled much of the year, particularly in the majors.
Because the PGA Championship never really had a chance to be anything other than an afterthought in the scheme of major tournaments.
Here, another opportunity presented itself at the PGA Championship, and Day again came up a shot short of a playoff, having to watch from the 18th green at Baltusrol Golf Club as Jimmy Walker holed the winning par putt, defenseless to do anything.
“I think that it is something that you guys have always done”, he said in an interview session.
He got the putt touching off one of the most thrilling holes in recent major history. “He’s really good and he tells me: ‘Wow, that’s Jimmy Walker, he hits it really far'”.
“It feels sweet, it’s unbelievable. The last thing I said to him as he left the range [on Sunday] was, “Just go out and show them who Jimmy Walker is”.
In a most peculiar final day at a major, the PGA Championship allowed for preferred lies because of almost 4 inches of rain during the week that drenched the Lower Course. As CBS commentator Peter Kostis said: “The first sign of pressure is poor decision-making”.
“I just don’t know why the finishes have finished the way they have”. “So it was actually quite nice to be able to see him celebrate with his family and friends there”.
There’s the lesson: Beware of the great player with low expectations.
Walker entered the PGA Championship ranked 50th in the FedEx Cup ranking and 48th in the world. Mickelson also said he would win multiple majors, and that one at Baltusrol sent him on his way, as he won the Masters the following spring and almost the U.S. Open after that. In fact, he didn’t make the weekend in four of his last eight tournaments.
Jimmy Walker won the week, not only by bringing home the Wanamaker trophy but also by vaulting from 29th to fourth on the points list. Forced to play the final two rounds due to earlier suspensions, he carded a 2-under-par 68 in the third round, before shooting 67 over the final 18 holes. Jimmy Walker capped off an exciting 2016 majors season on Sunday when he won the PGA Championship, the fifth time four different winners have taken golf’s biggest tournaments since 1959.
So it’s 2-2 between Europe and the U.S. in the 2016 majors stakes and now most eyes will focus on the Ryder Cup with Walker of course having cemented his team place.
As he walked down the 18th fairway after setting himself up for a potential eagle, Jason Day searched for a scoreboard.
It helped that Baltusrol was where he met his caddie, Andy Sanders, at a US Amateur practice round. But when he finally putted the ball, it barely caught the right side of the cup and fell in.
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama finished level with Grace after a bogey-free two-under par.
As the world’s top-ranked player, Day was heavily favored to contend, but his expectations were altered by the illness he picked up from his kids. Day, who battled back after bogeys on two of the first three holes, answered with a 22-foot birdie putt at the 11th.
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Walker’s victory completes a sweep of first-time winners in the majors this year. Like Stenson, he produced a steady front nine, before two shots in the trees at hole eleven abruptly ended his hopes. His long birdie putt scooted past the hole several feet.
