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Steady and Unspectacular, Jimmy Walker Dominated the 2016 PGA Championship
- Updated: August 1, 2016
Forget space.
As far as golf goes, Jimmy Walker has conquered the final frontier.
A late bloomer and aerospace nut who didn’t win his first PGA Tour event until three years ago at age 34, Walker held off a blistering rally from defending champion Jason Day on Sunday to claim the 98th PGA Championship, his first major title.
Walker, a hobbyist who uses his telescope to stare thousands of miles into space for fun, thankfully had his feet on terra firma when it mattered most, making huge putts from nine and three feet on the last two greens to beat Day by a shot at 14 under.
There was little oxygen left in the tank at the end of the journey, which wasn’t nearly as pyrotechnic as the final round of the major staged in Scotland two weeks ago. Yet the unassuming, workmanlike Walker was equally impressive in his own stoic way—he was practically error-free.
As Day knocked a shot to within 14 feet for an eagle on the par-five 18th, Walker stood over his birdie putt on the penultimate green, figuring the trophy was well in hand.
“I was thinking [walking] up 17, if I could birdie that hole, it would put it out [of reach],” Walker told the CBS Sports crew. “We made the birdie. Sometimes things don’t come easy.”
Walker made the birdie putt for a three-shot lead, but Day converted the eagle chance a heartbeat later, meaning that Walker had to par the last hole to win his sixth PGA Tour title in three years.
Yep, the eagle had landed.
“Eagle at the last,” Walker said on the CBS Broadcast. “That really put it on me to make a par. Sometimes pars are hard.”
Walker, who seemed to be made entirely of flint for the first 17 holes, finally blinked, at least for a moment. After smartly hitting an iron off the tee into the fairway, he drew gasps when he grabbed a 3-wood for his 288-yard second shot on the 554-yard hole. Layup time? Hardly.
Analysts almost swallowed their microphones, and not without reason. Seconds after Day had triumphantly walked off the final green with the crowd roaring—the Australian star looked at least twice toward the players watching from the fairway—Walker reached for a fairway wood as the CBS Sports crew questioned the aggressiveness of his decision in unison.
Said six-time major champion Nick Faldo: “Oh, wow.”
Added Peter Kostis: “Oh my word, he’s taking out the 3-wood.”
Chimed in Jim Nantz: “Why? I think a whole lot of why.”
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