American Jimmy Walker celebrates his maiden major victory with the Wanamaker Trophy.
PHOTO: Andy Lyons/Getty Images.
BY JOHN HUGGAN at BALTUSROL
IN the end, Jason Day wasn’t quite good enough to make himself a two-time USPGA champion. Or maybe Jimmy Walker – who led from start-to-finish – was simply playing too well to be beaten by anyone, even the World’s No.1 ranked golfer. Whatever, it is the 37-year old American’s name and not that of the 28-year old Queenslander that is now engraved on the giant Wanamaker Trophy and etched on the winner’s cheque for $1.8m.
With a final round of 67 over a sodden Baltusrol’s Lower Course, Walker reached 14-under-par and saw off all off his competition, the last of whom was Day. Open champion Henrik Stenson was also up there, but a double bogey six at the par-4 15th hole effectively ended his hopes of a second major title in the space of two weeks. The Swede – who made only one birdie in his last round – finished up eight under and tied for seventh alongside former champion Martin Kaymer and American Robert Streb.
The last roll of Day’s dice came on the final hole, a reachable par-5. Two shots back and clearly in need of an eagle, he struck a magnificent 2-iron second shot to maybe 10 feet from the cup. In response to the inevitable roar though, Walker, who arrived in New Jersey having missed four of his last eight cuts, holed from 12 feet for birdie on the penultimate green. Suddenly, the lead was three-shots.
Jason Day tips his cap to the crowd after making an eagle at the final hole to pull within a shot of Walker. PHOTO: Andrew Redington/Getty Images
Day confirmed his status as the game’s best player by making his eagle and taking his score to 13 under. But to no avail. Walker, armed with that crucial extra edge, made a slightly nervy par to win by a single shot. The new champion didn’t make it easy for himself though, by pushing his second shot into rough wide of the deep right greenside bunker. As CBS commentator Peter Kostis said: “The first sign of pressure is poor decision-making.”
The pitch to 30-feet beyond the pin made more sense though. And two putts later – the second from a nervy three feet – Walker had his maiden major title.
“It’s surreal,” was his initial reaction. “It feels sweet. I haven’t been playing that well but I felt something click last week. But I’m having a hard time putting words to this right now. It was so tough and nerve-wracking out there.”
Day reacts to a missed birdie putt on the 17th hole. PHOTO: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images.
As for Day, he may not have claimed his second major title, but he confirmed his status as the man to beat more often than not at the highest level of the game. Of the 14 players who made the halfway cut in all four majors this year, the now former PGA champion was the only man cumulatively under par (nine) for the 16 rounds. Right now, there is a gap between Day and the rest, a status his compatriot Adam Scott was quick to acknowledge.
“Jason is clearly the best player in the world, something he has been quite outspoken about being,” said the former Master champion, “he wants to be everything he can be and he has backed that up with his play. When I am around him he walks and talks like it too. He is completely in his own little world right now. That’s why he is doing what he is doing.
“He has embraced the challenge. And he looks pretty comfortable being number one, even if he says otherwise. He is certainly using it as motivation to keep pushing himself, which is hard to do. But he’s doing such a good job of it. On his current form he is putting himself in some pretty elevated company. It’s a different thing if he can do it for 12 years, as Tiger did. But he deserves great credit for the last 18 months.”
Walker holes his bunker shot for birdie from a greenside bunker on the 10th hole.
PHOTO: Andy Lyons/Getty Images.
Day himself was philosophical about his defeat and rightly proud of how hard he had pushed the new champion.
“I can’t be disappointed – okay maybe a little – but I played well all week without the greatest preparation,” he said. “Jimmy played great and is a deserving winner. I didn’t know he had holed his putt on 17 before my shot to 18. I assumed I was still two shots back. I just said, ‘let’s just try to finish off with a bang, try to give him something to think about.’
“The 2-iron is probably one of the best 2-irons I’ve ever hit into a par-5, especially under the circumstances. It felt perfect as soon as I hit it. So it was nice to make the eagle and make Jimmy think about it. But he played too good all day. The birdie on 17 was key for him.”
Walker’s triumph is the climax of a long road travelled by the quietly-spoken Oklahoman, who makes his home in Texas. His professional life has certainly not been all fun and games. He has seen the other side of the sport that has eventually made him a rich man. Only in the last few years has he emerged from years of struggle on the fringes of a PGA Tour on which he has recorded five victories since 2014. His is a story of gritty perseverance.
Walker’s clutch birdie on the par-5 17th proved to be the difference, giving him a one-shot buffer over Day. PHOTO: Andy Lyons/Getty Images.
“Player of the Year” on the second division Nationwide (now the Web.com) Tour in 2004, Walker spent the next few seasons battling – with varying success – relegation from the PGA Tour. After re-gaining his card at the 2008 Qualifying School, Walker’s 125th place on the money-list in 2009 made him the last exempt player for the following season. A year later he was up to 103rd and in 2011 he was 68th. 2012 saw him move up again, to 43rd. In 2014 he finished seventh on the Fed-Ex Cup standings and banked almost $6 million. And last year he salted away another $4.5 million.
“I’m not sure why it took me so long to get where I am now,” says Walker with a shrug. “There were a couple of times I thought about walking away. I didn’t want to keep finishing way down the money-list. That’s no fun. I was killing myself and not really having that much to show for it. It costs a lot of money to operate on tour and when you’re not making that much it’s a constant struggle. So I made a conscious effort to try and get better.”
Mission accomplished.
Only two other Aussies played their way into the top-20: John Senden and Scott, who both finished five under for the week and in a tie for 16th place. Their final score was just about the only thing the pair had in common, however. Where Senden was happy enough with his play in his first major appearance of 2016, Scott left the premises clearly frustrated and a little bemused at his inability to score better than he did.
“It’s hard to put a finger on what I should be doing better,” said Scott, who closed with a 69. “Everything maybe. There was no real pattern to my play. At times I performed like I think I should. But not often enough. I needed to make more putts really, whether through hitting it closer or making it from where I hit to this week. It’s weird really.
“I drove the ball beautifully this week – apart from the last hole, where I hooked into the water – but my iron play was pretty ordinary. It was just hard work. I two-putted every green on the back nine today and never got any momentum going. That’s been the story of the summer really.
A frustrated Adam Scott finished with a 69 but didn’t make enough birdies despite being very good from tee to green. PHOTO: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images.
“Maybe I should have played in Canada last week and got something going. At least I could have stayed sharp by doing that. In every round this week it was a battle to get something going. I did that today, but hit a couple of poor shots – a three-putt on four and a bad approach on seven. So my game clearly wasn’t at the level it needed to be to contend. I never got going.”
As for Senden, his glass was very much half-full.
“It was a pretty solid week’s work,” said the 45-year-old former Australian Open champion. “I played really well in all four rounds. I’m quite happy with my form. Like everyone, I have my regrets about shots I left out there. But it’s a fine line between success and failure. I just needed to tidy up a bit better in places. But I did a bit of that too. I scored well considering the conditions. It wasn’t the easiest given all the stopping and starting. I’m happy to shoot under par on the final day, especially as this was my first major of the year. I need to get back in that top-50 for next year.”
Locating the other five Aussies playing on what was a very long weekend for all concerned meant looking a bit further down the leaderboard. Scott Hend fared best, his 72 taking him into a T42 finish. Aaron Baddeley was next, a closing 68 lifting him into T49. Marc Leishman made bogey-sixes on each of the last two holes, shot 74 and fell to a tie for 60th. Marcus Fraser shot 73 to sit tied for 73rd, and Matt Jones’ closing 73 left him tied for 79th.
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