>>Jason Day Gets First Major Win in Record Setting Fashion
The third time finally proved to be the charm for Jason Day.
After sharing the 54-hole lead at both the U.S. and British Opens this season, the 27-year-old Australian finally cashed in from the top of the leaderboard to win the PGA Championship Sunday at Whistling Straits.
Day fired a final-round 67 at the course on the shores of Lake Michigan, finishing with a score of 20-under par, the lowest any player in the history of the sport has ever finished to par in a major championship.
Day's brilliant play allowed him to hold off Jordan Spieth by three strokes, denying the young Texan a chance to become only the third golfer to win three majors in one season.
The win helps Day to escape from the dreaded "never won a major" list and provides a nice cap to what had been a disappointing majors season. Day entered Sunday of the U.S. Open with a share of the lead but battled a bout of vertigo and came up short at Chambers Bay. He did the same at St. Andrews for the British Open but missed a birdie putt on the 18th green that kept him out of playoff won by Zach Johnson.
Spieth, who overtook Rory McIlroy to become No. 1 in the wold golf rankings, finished with a final round 68 and was playing for a chance to join Ben Hogan (1953) and Tiger Woods (2000) as the only golfers to win three majors in one season.
>>Spieth New No. 1 in World
Jordan Spieth called it "the best consolation prize ever."
Though the 22-year-old didn't win his third major championship of the year on Sunday at Whistling Straits – that honor went to Australian Jason Day – a final-round, 4-under 68 earned him a solo second-place finish and the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Spieth supplants Rory McIlroy, who finished in 17th place, for the No. 1 ranking. There were five scenarios by which Spieth could become the top-ranked player for the first time, including one in which he finished second alone and McIlroy finished worse than sixth.
The reigning Masters and U.S. Open champion also becomes just the third player in the history of the game to finish inside the top four in all four major championships in a season. He also sets the all-time single-season scoring record in relationship to par in the majors (-54), supplanting Tiger Woods, who was 53-under par in three major victories in 2000.
Spieth's reign at the top of the world ranking, however, may be short-lived. Both McIlroy and Day are within striking distance of him, and with the four FedEx Cup playoff events starting in two weeks (McIlroy is skipping the first leg, The Barclays), a good September run could see Spieth's seat atop the rankings end quickly.
