Warning: mysqli_query(): (HY000/1030): Got error 28 from storage engine in /home/sportsun/public_html/wp-includes/wp-db.php on line 1942

American Jimmy Walker won his first major golf tournament on July 31st when he captured the 2016 PGA Championship at Baltusrol in New Jersey. Walker shot a three-under par 67 in the fourth and final round to finish at -14 (266) for the 72-hole event. Jason Day of Australia finished one stroke behind at -13 and fellow American Daniel Summerhays was third at -10. It was the fourth and final major of the year and Walker became the fourth golfer in 2016 to win their first majors. Danny Willett of England won the Masters, American Dustin Johnson took the U.S. Open and Henrik Stenson of Sweden captured the recent British Open.

Stenson was trying to tie Ben Hogan as the only golfers aged 40 and over to win consecutive majors. He shot a 71 in the final round after going into it two shots behind the lead and finished the event at -8 and tied for fifth place. The 37-year-old Walker sewed up his win with three birdies on the back nine to keep the top-ranked golfer in the world, Day at bay. Day managed to win the PGA last year, but fell just short of defending it this time around. If he had succeeded he would have joined Tiger Woods as the only golfers to win two straight PGA Championships. The 48th-ranked Walker had a three-shot lead on the 17th hole with a birdie, but Day drew two shots closer on the 18th and final hole with an eagle.

This meant Walker would win the tournament and the Wanamaker Trophy by shooting for par on the last hole and that’s just what he did with his final shot being a game-winning three-foot putt. He went the last 28 holes without a bogey. The tournament was held up by rain during the third round this meant several golfers including Walker and Day had to play rounds three and four both on Sunday, making it the longest final round at the PGA Championship in the past 64 years. The PGA wanted to make sure the event didn’t run into a fifth day and Walker shot two-under par 68 earlier in the day in the third round.

The win will also likely land Walker of Oklahoma City a spot on this year’s Ryder Cup team as he shot up the Ryder Cup rankings to number four from number 29. He missed tying the record for the best score at a PGA Championship which David Toms set at 15-under par in 2001. Third-place finisher Daniel Summerhays managed to hit birdies on three of the last four holes to finish the final round at four-under par 66 and his performance will see him play in the Masters for the first time next year.