Monday 17 August 2015 09:41, UK
Jason Day was a model of composure under pressure as he held off history-chasing Jordan Spieth to clinch his first major title at the 97th PGA Championship.
The Australian got off to a hot start and held his nerve down the stretch to card a closing five-under 67 - setting a new major championship record with his winning score of 20 under par as he sealed an impressive three-shot triumph over Spieth, who at least had the consolation of replacing Rory McIlroy at the top of the world rankings.
Day led by two overnight, and he stole a march on Spieth with a birdie at the second before the young Texan hit back at the next only to make his first mistake of the round at the fourth to hand back the initiative.
The pair then matched each other's birdies at the next two holes, and Day made it three in a row when he drained a monster 50-foot putt for a thrilling two at the par-three seventh.
A poor drive into sand cost Day a shot at the eighth, but Spieth bogeyed the ninth while Justin Rose moved into contention with back-to-back birdies at 10 and 11 that lifted him to within two shots of the lead.
But Rose's challenge effectively ended when he double-bogeyed the 13th, while Branden Grace ran up a costly six at the 10th which put paid to his chances after he stormed into the mix with four birdies in five holes on the front nine.
Spieth's birdie at 10 was negated when Day replied in kind at the long 11th, and the nine-time major runner-up closed the door again with a superb approach to 10 feet from a fairway bunker at the 14th to set up a birdie after Spieth had holed from 12 feet on the previous hole.
Hope for Spieth
Four ahead with four to play, Day offered a glimmer of hope when he failed to get up and down from greenside rough at the 15th, but two mighty blows to the 16th set up an easy two-putt for birdie after Spieth had splashed out to three feet from an awkward lie in the sand.
Day safely two-putted from distance to match Spieth's par at 17 and he closed out a memorable victory with a cast-iron par at the last to post a winning score of 20 under par.
After winning the Masters and US Open, Spieth had to settle for fourth at the Open Championship and his runner-up finish at Whistling Straits completed the best set of performances in the majors in one year since Tiger Woods' historic season in 2000.
Grace won the race for third when he converted a superb tee-shot to six feet at the 17th and parred the last for a 69 that saw him finish on 15 under, one ahead of Rose after the Englishman bogeyed the last to hand in a 70.
Brooks Koepka soared into the top five with a riveting 66 featuring six birdies and an eagle, the American finishing in a tie for fifth with Anirban Lahiri, who finished off a career-defining tournament with a commendable 68 to close on 13 under.
Dustin Johnson put together one of the more amazing rounds in major history, recovering from a horrible quadruple-bogey eight at the first to salvage a 69 which included two eagles in a sensational back-nine 31.
Defending champion McIlroy, playing his first event since the US Open after suffering ankle ligament damage, had to be content with 17th place on nine under after carding a solid four-birdie 69.
