Spieth was looking to become only the third player after Woods and Ben Hogan to win three majors in a season, but a closing 68 meant he finished three shots behind and had to settle for overtaking Rory McIlroy to become the second youngest world number one behind Woods.
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Fellow Australian Jason Day produced a birdie blitz around the turn to take the lead from Jones late in the third round at Whistling Straits.
1917-1918 and 1943 – Play is suspended for two years, 1917 and 1918 due to World War I, and again in 1943 due to World War II.
With a measured final approach to the 18th green, Day calmly slotted a par putt to cement his place in history as the victor of the 2015 US PGA Championship.
The first shot didn’t make it up the slope and rolled back into the sand, and Day wound up with a double bogey right about the time Spieth shifted into another gear.
Spieth had the best view of Day’s tour and conducted himself well.
Grace had shared the lead with Spieth with three holes to play in the US Open in June, but drove out of bounds on the 16th to effectively end his chances.
Unfortunately for the other golfers in the field, Day had his foot on the gas pedal and didn’t let up.
Day is the fifth Aussie to win the PGA and the first since Steve Elkington at Riviera in 1995.
Six players were within five shots of the lead. When Day struck a nice putt to get close on No. 17, he could be seen criss-crossing television screens across America, giving Day a big thumbs up.
Day leads by four heading into the final nine holes of the competition but has strong competition in the UK’s Justin Rose in second and Jordan Spieth from the US in third. No one has ever had at least a share of the 54-hole lead in three straight majors without winning one of them. “That’s very hard to do at a major championship”. He was hoping for a miss, a double bogey, anything to rattle him.
“It wouldn’t be quite what I wanted, but as I said, I can take positives from it and move on”.
Firing a history making score of 20-under 268, Day has also set a new record for the lowest to par score to win a Major Championship.
“I don’t think it gets any easier but it does feel a bit different each time you go through it, you get a bit more comfortable”, said Spieth, who finished a shot outside the play-off in the Open Championship last month. It was a fantastic day for me, personally, and something I’ll never forget.
Ellie Day actually live-tweeted some of her excitement during the final round.
When Day rapped a 60-foot birdie putt on No. 17 and it almost went in, Spieth was flashing the thumbs-up sign before the ball stopped.
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But he faces a stiff challenge from the two-time major champion and American wonder kid, Jordan Spieth.
