Spieth steals Rory’s crown as Jason’s day arrives

(He) finished second to me at Congressional four years ago.

But, is it Day’s time after all his close calls?

The 27-year-old from Rockhampton in Queensland led from start to finish in the final round at Whistling Straits, closing with a five-under-par 67 before savouring the celebrations with his caddie and long-time coach, Colin Swatton.

He wound up only two shots behind and is poised to join Tiger Woods (2000) and Ben Hogan (1953) as the only players to win three majors in one season.

American golfer Jordan Spieth has replaced Rory McIlroy as the world’s best golfer in the official rankings after finishing second at the US PGA Championship on Monday. Day is thriving in a game that is often derided by critics for being too elitist and exclusionary, in a time when fans are perpetually disappointed by athletes’ antics, Day represents everything that’s best about sports.

“Overall I’m just really pleased with how I played”.

“This isn’t as much in my head off the course as it was to try and get the Grand Slam, when I was getting ready to shoot for it the last couple of days at St Andrews”. This week was a nostalgic trip of sorts for Stricker, who had his wife, Nicki, caddying for him like she used to.

“I didn’t expect I was going to cry”, he said.

The final steps in that journey might have been the most impressive.

Jordan Spieth is golf newest World No. 1.

Day has had to battle vertigo which undermined his challenge at the U.S. Open, but it was his own play in the final round which left his rivals in a spin, becoming the first man in history to finish on the 20-under mark in a major.

Looking determined as ever, in control of his swing and putting beautifully, Day was 6 under over a six-hole stretch in the middle of his round.

Branden Grace finished alone in third at 15-under, one stroke ahead of Justin Rose.

“I probably would have hit 3-wood in that scenario, just to keep it in play”, Spieth said. It baffles me the stuff he can prove out there. It was a fantastic day for me, personally, and something I’ll never forget.

Day was in tears before he even tapped in for par on No. 18. And on Sunday, he took everything Spieth could throw at him – answering with fairway splitting tee shots, greens in regulation and clutch putt after clutch putt.

A relationship and bond formed where Day became like a son and Swatton like a father – Jason’s Dad had passed from cancer – and the kid was drinking and getting in street fights before being shipped to boarding school.

Saturday featured abundant sunshine and endless action, starting in the dead calm of the morning when Matt Jones finished the storm-delayed second round with two birdies for a two-shot lead. And he has no stance over in the bunker and hits a shot to a foot.

“It’s just an incredible feeling I have”. Since then, Keegan Bradley (25 in 2011) and McIlroy (23 in 2012, 25 in ’14) have accounted for three more titles.

Not this day. Not this Jason Day.

Spieth’s combined score of 54 under par across 2015’s majors is also the best all-time combined major score in a calendar year.

“The path that I was on was never expected for me to be here where I was today”, Day said.

The Australian has emerged from very humble beginnings to reach the upper echelons of golf, overcoming personal tragedy and adversity to make his dreams a reality. “And that’s the biggest thing that I’ve learned off of him”, Day concluded, “to really understand and listen”.