Jimmy Walker has paid his professional dues for 15 years and it all came down to a three-hole shootout Sunday at Baltusrol with the PGA Championship on the line.
On a long day that saw the leaders play 36 holes on the rain-soaked Baltusrol Golf Club, it was Walker who was absolutely clutch over the final 27 holes, playing them seven-under par then holing the winning birdie putt from nine feet at the 71st hole.
He had to back off that putt as Jason Day, the defending champion, had just hit a sensational second shot into the par five 18th that stopped just 12 feet from the hole for an eagle and a potential tie with Walker.
But Walker, as he had done all day, calmly handled the pressure. Day would make the eagle to force Walker to simply par the last hole and that didn’t come easy. Walker missed the green, going for it in two and had a challenging lie, just short of pin-high right, with a bunker between him and the green and Day done and in at 13-under par.
Walker, again as calm as a player could be, lofted his ball and it stopped 35 feet from the cup. He would leave himself a testy three-footer for the win, but he handled that as he handled the short ones all day, without hesitation. His par gave him 67 and a 14-under par winning score of 266, denying Day a repeat major.
Walker’s win made it a sweep of the 2016 majors for first-time winners. For Walker it was the result of 15 years as a professional, many of them were a struggle, but on Sunday, he played his absolute best. He completed a wire-to-wire finish where he held or co-held the lead after every round.
Early Sunday morning, he rallied from a horrible start to his third round and mustered four birdies over the final nine to shoot 67. After that, there were no bogeys, none during the crucial final round.
“I tried to give it a good run,” said Day, who came up a shot short. He will look back and lament his two bogeys over the first three holes of his final round and a missed birdie putt from nine feet at the 71st hole. “He’s a deserving champion,” Day said of Walker. “He played great all week.”
For Walker, his week-long formula was fairways and greens and his putter converted when he needed it. After missing the cut in the last two majors, he took charge this week.
Walker knew what Day had done at 18 and he knew what he had to do. “Yes he did,” Walker said of Day’s final-hole challenge. “I was thinking as I walked up 17 if I could birdie, I’d put it out. He made eagle at 18 and that put it on me. There was a lot of emotion going on out there, I’m not gonna lie.”
Walker said he didn’t hesitate to go for the final green in two. “I said, ‘yeah, let’s do it.’ I literally hit it in the worst place I could hit hit but I did what I was supposed to do, hit it up there 35 feet and make a difficult two-putt. I made a lot of five and six-footers all day to keep the round going.”
Walker also said it was special that Day was the man who put the pressure on him.
“Jason and I are good friends. To hold him off at the end for me is great and I’ll have a lot of confidence going forward.”
