Walker wins PGA Championship by one stroke over Day

Jimmy Walker was about to attempt his birdie putt on the 17th green at Baltusrol on Sunday when the roar that began just over 600 yards away finally reached his ears.

The Texan was 36 from 36 for putts inside three feet for the tournament as he stood over his final putt on the 18th green, coolly converting the 37th that also handed him $AU2.37 million in prize money.

“I feel I’m progressing pretty nicely”, said Grace, a victor of seven European Tour events and this year’s PGA Tour stop at Hilton Head.

“I’m just really pleased that we got it in, it was a great finish obviously”. I know it’s not one that is ideal. But I could hit a 2-iron down there, especially with the tee up. Bubba Watson won the event previous year, beating England’s Paul Casey in a playoff.

“I figured birdieing 17 was huge and that was going to cap it off”, Walker said.

Fowler and Spieth waited to offer their congratulations after Walker signed his scorecard, and even the caddies were involved. However, after making a birdie to briefly tie Walker on 11, Day made six consecutive pars, allowing Walker to make pars on the middle of his back nine and maintain a two-shot lead. Walker matched Day’s 67 with his first bogey-free round in a major despite an off-target second shot into 18.

“Let’s start off, he’s a tremendous bloke”.

Give him a cowboy hat, black. “He’s really good and he tells me, ‘Wow, that’s Jimmy Walker, he hits it really far'”.

Every first-time champion has a moment, a test, like the one Walker had just aced. The Days and Walkers, the men, their wives and children, are traveling buddies who park their motor homes alongside each other. It was the first time preferred lies were greenlighted in a major championship.

Ranked 12th in the world, he rebounded superbly from an opening level-par 70 at Baltusrol to shoot 66 and 67 in the final two rounds and finish at nine-under 271, five strokes behind victor Jimmy Walker. 1 and 3 and they proved to be his downfall.

Walker made a 3-foot par putt for the win just minutes after Day had an eagle 3 on the closing hole to get within one shot. “Jason Day is a true champion, it was a battle all day”.

One stroke ahead of world number one and defending champion Day when the third round was completed, the bearded Walker tightened his grip on the title with birdies at the 10th and 11th before adding another at the 17th.

The third and fourth rounds were going on at the same time and with different rules. “I was struggling most of the day. To see all that come together is just a matter of time I think”.

Give him this: Jason Day made it interesting.

If Walker is mostly a mystery to those outside of golf, he is highly popular among his peers, and that showed in the genuine celebration that happened in the scoring area after he’d won.

When Walker stood eight feet below the 18th green, needing to get down in three to win, at least one person knew he would do it.

Brian Stuard (Oakland University) shot even-par in three of his four rounds, but a 5-over 75 in the third round that finished early Sunday led to a tie for 79th place. The Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn., is the next event on the PGA Tour schedule, beginning Thursday. His other three victories came on the Web.com Tour. After his round on Sunday, he reiterated his desire to win and win in big events.

Walker, who will move up from No. 48 to inside the top 15 in the world rankings and moved to fourth in the Ryder Cup standings, didn’t win in his first 187 PGA Tour starts.

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.