PGA Championship | The unlikely victory of Justin Thomas

Nobody. Nobody could have banked on a victory for Justin Thomas at the PGA Championship on Sunday morning. Still, the American came from behind by seven strokes to defeat Will Zalatoris in overtime and claim his second major tournament title.

Nicholas Richard
The Press

Rarely, the PGA Championship was decided in overtime. A first since 2011. A three-hole extension to the 13^and17^and and 18^and. This is where the tournament was played. Nothing of the previous 72 holes mattered. Justin Thomas and Will Zalatoris. The master against the student. A former tournament champion against a young Texan with no title on his record.

At 13^and, a par five of 541 yards, the easiest hole of the day, the two players got away with a birdie. Thomas sent his tee shot into the long grass, on the right, but without too much difficulty, he got out of trouble. Then, with his fairway wedge, with which he has always had great success, he put his ball close to the hole.

For his part, Zalatoris made a perfect tee shot, a precise approach shot and he needed two putts.

Thomas took the lead at 17^and hole thanks to a tee shot that landed directly on the green. A shot he described as “wonderful” after the game. His long putt for the eagle came up short, but he nailed the birdie.

On this same par four of 302 yards, Zalatoris pushed his ball to the right, at the edge of the long grass. After a successful approach, he sent his putt, a short distance, too much to the left, as was too often the case over the weekend.

On the last overtime hole, a 490-yard par four, the hardest hole on the course, Zalatoris made a very good tee shot, down the center of the fairway. Except that he put too much retro effect, and his ball tumbled in front of the green. It took a miracle to stall the roll, but in vain.

” I can do it [gagner un tournoi majeur]. I’m near. I didn’t play well yesterday. I fought hard today. I’m close and I’m super motivated. I’m going to have one soon, ”said Zalatoris, who now has five top 10 in his first eight major tournaments.

Thomas propelled his ball far to the right, almost into the stream. Safe and in full control, his approach shot sparkled to the left of the green. He was one stroke ahead, so he could afford two putts. What he did to get his hands on his second major title. He hugged his younger brother. His wife and parents came to join him on the green of 18^and hole. The crowd started chanting “JT! JT! JT! “. An extremely popular victory that of Justin Thomas. He therefore won the PGA Championship for the second time after his triumph in 2017.

An unexpected victory

Although he had played well Thursday and Friday with rounds of 67 (-3), it was believed that the 29-year-old golfer had ruined all his chances on Saturday with a difficult round of 74 (+4).

Observers even spoke of a baptism of fire, because the leaders and the most serious contenders were all young players in search of their first title on the PGA Tour.

In the end, neither Pereira, Zalatoris, Young or Ancer had what it took to win a major tournament.

With a delay of seven shots at the start of the day, Thomas wowed the gallery with iron concentration and disconcerting regularity. He got off to a rocky start by returning an equal-par score on the front nine.

It was on the back nine that the machine started with three birdies, including one of capital importance on the 17th.^andwhich allowed him to access the extension, at – 5.

“I don’t know, it was a weird day. We tried to play well despite the pitch. No advance is guaranteed. I can’t believe I went to overtime,” he explained when presenting the trophy. He had just closed the third-largest deficit in major tournament history.

The stampede of Mito Pereira

Thomas certainly won the tournament, but it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Mito Pereira lost the tournament either. Leading by three strokes at the start of the final round, Pereira had the good game. Especially since he was being chased by players who, like him, had no victory on the PGA Tour.

“It’s hard to end like this. I didn’t play very well today. I should have done a little more to win. […] It will allow me to learn for the future, ”he said after his game.

The Chilean started his round cautiously and he was quickly caught by his pursuers. He regained the lead on the fifth hole and he saved the furniture on the ninth after a passage in the forest, in the sand trap, to finally thread the needle thanks to a long curved putt.

Pereira has often managed to get out of trouble. It will have allowed him to survive a few holes, but it is also what will have cost him the tournament.

After erratic shots off the fairways or behind the green, he often came back with a brilliant shot, but too often played on the wire, and the tightrope walker ended up falling.

He had five bogeys before he got to 18^and. At the last hole he had missed the birdie by an inch; his Titleist ball refused to fall into the cup. He still had a priority shot over Thomas and Zalatoris. However, he decided to play boldly, and it was fatal. He hit his tee shot all the way to the right, into the little stream at the edge of the fairway. He had tried to cut his momentum to keep his ball low.

“I wasn’t thinking about water. It’s weird that my ball ended up there. There was so much pressure that maybe I didn’t control or feel everything I was doing. »

He failed to play par, he missed his two approach shots and ended the tournament with a double bogey and a -4 card.