Justin Thomas overturned a record-equalling seven-shot deficit earlier than beating Will Zalatoris in a play-off to win his second US PGA Championship following a dramatic climax at Southern Hills.
Chile’s Mito Pereira held a one-shot lead on the 72nd gap after seeing his birdie putt on the seventeenth cease agonisingly wanting the outlet, however pushed his drive into the creek and ran up a devastating double bogey.
That left Thomas and Zalatoris to contest a three-hole mixture play-off and Thomas birdied the thirteenth and seventeenth and parred the 18th to carry the Wanamaker Trophy for the second time, having began the day seven pictures off the lead.
That meant the previous world No 1 equalled the most important comeback in US PGA historical past: John Mahaffey coming from seven behind Tom Watson after 54 holes to defeat Watson and Jerry Pate in a play-off at Oakmont in 1978.
Thomas had holed from six ft on the par-five thirteenth to match the birdie Zalatoris had made after discovering the inexperienced in two, however Zalatoris missed from eight ft for birdie on the seventeenth after Thomas had pushed the inexperienced on the 302-yard par 4 to arrange a two-putt birdie.
Zalatoris then couldn’t gap his prolonged birdie putt on the 18th and Thomas safely two-putted for par to get his palms on the Wanamaker Trophy for the second time, after his 2017 win at Quail Hole.
Thomas had birdied the seventeenth in regulation and missed from 10 ft for an additional on the final, his third 67 of the week setting a goal of 5 below par that solely Zalatoris was in a position to match, with Pereira and Cameron Younger 4 below and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood sharing fifth place on three below.
Fitzpatrick started the ultimate spherical three behind Pereira and his likelihood seemed to have disappeared as he adopted a entrance 9 of 36 with bogeys on the tenth and eleventh, however the 27-year-old from Sheffield chipped in for birdie throughout the fifteenth inexperienced to revive his hopes.
Nonetheless, Fitzpatrick pitched right into a bunker to bogey the seventeenth and finish his possibilities of changing into simply the second English winner of the US PGA and first in 103 years.
“It’s a troublesome one to take proper now,” Fitzpatrick stated. “Simply received to attempt to take the positives. The primary three days I used to be immaculate. Every little thing I used to be doing was proper.
“Possibly in the present day wasn’t fairly as switched on. I made too many errors on the straightforward issues. I didn’t hit it within the fairway sufficient. There have been only a few issues in the present day which I might have finished higher trying again.”
Rory McIlroy’s second successive Sunday cost in a significant had earlier led to disappointment as his anticipate a fifth main title, and first for the reason that 2014 US PGA, goes on.
McIlroy completed runner-up within the Masters due to a closing 64 at Augusta Nationwide, a spherical which culminated in wild celebrations from the four-time main winner after he holed a bunker shot on the 72nd gap.
In stark distinction, McIlroy’s closing 68 in Tulsa was adopted by him declining to talk to ready reporters earlier than rapidly gathering his belongings from the locker room and heading to his automobile.
The response was comprehensible on condition that McIlroy had loved a one-shot lead following a gap 65 from what proved the beneficial aspect of the draw.
A second spherical of 71 was removed from disastrous, however Saturday’s 74 left him 9 pictures off the tempo heading into the ultimate spherical, a deficit he swiftly decreased due to 4 birdies in a row from the second.
The par threes have been McIlroy’s undoing nevertheless – the 33-year-old enjoying them in 5 over par in spherical three even with a birdie on the 14th – and the sixth value him one other shot on Sunday after lacking the inexperienced and hitting a poor chip to twenty ft.
Good birdie possibilities went begging on the ninth, twelfth and thirteenth and McIlroy’s faint hopes had been ended with a bogey on the brief par-four seventeenth.
Fleetwood had set the early clubhouse goal after 5 birdies in six holes from the twelfth gave him a closing 67, however stated he had not contemplated his whole being ok to win or get right into a play-off.
“I’m going to be joyful wherever I end,” Fleetwood stated. “I’ve by no means thought it was sufficient nevertheless it was nice to have what’s going to be my greatest results of the 12 months thus far in a significant.”
Kaynak: briturkish.com