With Day trailing by two on the final hole, the par-5 18th, Day hit an approach shot for the ages, reaching the green in two and leaving himself a makeable eagle putt that could have tied the score. or so we all thought.
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“There’s a lot of emotion going on out there”.
When defending champion Jason Day put a hard charge on the eventual wire-to-wire victor down the stretch by answering Walker’s dramatic sand shot with a long birdie putt on 11 to creep to within a stroke of the lead, the game was on at last. This was a guy in the zone, and who still believed he was going to become just the second man to defend the Wanamaker trophy since 1958.
“It is surreal, an incredible finish”, said wire-to-wire victor Walker, who became the fourth first-time major victor this year.
South Africa’s Branden Grace shot 67 to finish at -9 alongside Brooks Koepka (70) of the U.S. and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (70), whose poor putting stroke kept him from challenging Walker.
Walker had to return to the classic championship course early Sunday morning to play his entire third round after heavy rain and thunderstorms suspended play on Saturday, and shot two-under 68 for a one-shot lead going into the final 18. A second major championship is crucial, if being considered among the greats of the game is part of Day’s ultimate plan. Players could clean mud off their balls in low-mown areas and replace them.
What you see above is photo snapped off a video screen amidst an insane crowd recording a little amateur magic from this weekend’s 2016 PGA Championship as a golf lover takes home a new Mercedes-Benz.
Jimmy Walker did everything required of a major champion on the longest final day in 64 years at a PGA Championship.
“He really put it on me to make a par”, Walker said.
The American, a five-time PGA Tour victor, holed out from a greenside bunker to birdie the 10th and rolled in a 30-footer for birdie at 11 to lead by two.
Walker’s final nine included three birdies starting with a bunker shot into the cup on No. 10, a 30-footer drained on No. 11 and a curling 8-foot putt on No. 17 that proved vital. A birdie on the 17th looked to have won him the Championship before Day eagled the final hole after Walker had played a safe iron on to the fairway.
Moments later, Day knocked in his eagle putt, pulling him back within one shot of Walker.
He said in the after math: ‘It is surreal, an incredible finish, ‘ before adding: ‘I made it a little more hard than I would have liked but I did it’.
“Sometimes things just don’t come easy”, USA Today quotes Walker as saying. Nothing in golf comes easy. Walker didn’t make a bogey over his last 28 holes.
Walker played a long iron off the tee at 18 but his second shot sailed right of the green in thick rough. His first putt ran three feet past the hole but he sank the nerve-jangler to become a major champion. Day said he would have liked to be playing with Walker. “I can’t be disappointed”. Played great the first day, was just unlucky.
Her late collapse in the ANA Inspiration almost as recent as her three straight LPGA Tour victories, the 20-year-old Thai player held on to win the Women’s British Open for her first major title. “It’s tough to play 36 in one day”, Stenson said.
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“Darren knows best and always tells me that, but it’s just difficult when every putt means a lot and it’s nearly one of those things where you try too hard”, Fitzpatrick said.
