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American Jimmy Walker has denied Jason Day a second career major with a wire-to-wire victory at the US PGA Championship.
The 37-year-old Texan closed with a steely three-under-par 67 at soggy Baltusrol Golf Club to complete a one-stroke win over Australia’s gallant defending champion and world No.1.
Walker finished with a 14-under total of 266 to become the fourth first-time major champion of the year following breakthroughs for Englishman Danny Willett at the Masters, American Dustin Johnson at the US Open and Swede Henrik Stenson at the British Open.
He is the seventh player to go wire to wire at the PGA Championship, joining Bobby Nichols (1964), Raymond Floyd (1969 and 1982), Hal Sutton (1983), Nick Price (1994), Tiger Woods (2000) and Phil Mickelson, who also achieved the feat at Baltusrol in 2005.
Day, who won the Wanamaker Trophy in record-setting fashion last year at Whistling Straits, applied the pressure with an eagle three at the last hole but had to settle for his 13th top-10 finish from 25 major appearances – and his fourth second prize.
The 28-year-old Queenslander has also now joined elite company as a runner-up at all four major championships.
Day was equal second at the 2011 Masters, runner-up at the 2011 and 2013 US Opens and runner-up at last year’s British Open at St Andrews.
With rain wiping out his and Walker’s third rounds on Saturday, Day shot a three-under 67 on Sunday morning to begin the final round one stroke off the lead.
Two bogeys in the opening three holes ultimately proved costly as he failed to make up the deficit despite birdies at the fifth, ninth and 11th holes and then his eagle at the 18th in a three-under 67.
While Day was unable to find a birdie for most of the back nine, super steady Walker holed out from a greenside trap for birdie on the 10th and then picked up another on the 11th to retain control.
His only trouble came at the last but he held his nerve to hole a three-footer for par in fading light to land his sixth and biggest win of his career.
Day had been bidding to become the first player to successfully defend a major championship title since Irishman Padraig Harrington at the 2008 British Open and join Peter Thomson, David Graham and Greg Norman as just the fourth Australian win multiple majors.
Daniel Summerhays was third at 10 under for the championship after closing with a 66, with fellow American Brooks Koepka (70), South African Branden Grace (67) and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (68) sharing fourth spot a further shot behind.
Stenson (71) finished in a tie for seventh at eight under.
Adam Scott (69) and John Senden (68) shared 17th place at five under for the championship.
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