PGA Championship 2022 LIVE: Leaderboard & reaction as Justin Thomas beats Will Zalatoris in playoff
All the action from the final day at Southern Hills as Mito Pereira takes a three-shot lead into round four
Justin Thomas overturned a record-equalling seven-shot deficit before beating Will Zalatoris in a play-off to win his second US PGA Championship following a dramatic climax at Southern Hills.
Chile’s Mito Pereira held a one-shot lead on the 72nd hole after seeing his birdie putt on the 17th stop agonisingly short of the hole, but pushed his drive into the creek and ran up a devastating double bogey.
That left Thomas and Zalatoris to contest a three-hole aggregate play-off and Thomas birdied the 13th and 17th and parred the 18th to lift the Wanamaker Trophy for the second time, having started the day seven shots off the lead.
That meant the former world number one equalled the biggest comeback in US PGA history, John Mahaffey coming from seven behind Tom Watson after 54 holes to defeat Watson and Jerry Pate in a play-off at Oakmont in 1978.
Thomas had holed from six feet on the par-five 13th to match the birdie Zalatoris had made after finding the green in two, but Zalatoris missed from eight feet for birdie on the 17th after Thomas had driven the green on the 302-yard par four to set up a two-putt birdie.
Zalatoris then could not hole his lengthy birdie putt on the 18th and Thomas safely two-putted for par to get his hands on the Wanamaker Trophy for the second time following his 2017 win at Quail Hollow.
Follow all the reaction from an intriguing final day, below:
Back-to-back birdies for Rory
And Rory McIlroy does indeed sink his putt at the 3rd. Two-under through three holes and he’s at -2 now. That’s currently T7 and a couple more birdies would see him right in the mix...
Rory McIlroy with a birdie look at 3
Rory McIlroy seemingly fancying this today. Following his birdie at 2, he sticks an iron into the heart of the green at the 3rd. Maybe a ten-footer for another birdie.
Birdie on the board for Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy has sort of done a ‘reverse Rory’ this week. Normally he starts a major slowly then comes storming on for a top-ten finish.
This week, he led after round one but has faded with sub-standard Friday and Saturdays. He looks like he’s started his Sunday charge from too far back though - a birdie at the 2nd as he holes a mid-range putt.
-1 for the tournament now and into the top ten. If he could somehow post, say a 64 to get to -6 that would ask some questions of the leaders at least.
Joaquin Niemann birdies the 3rd
No-one out on the course is in the red numbers for the championship just yet but Joaquin Niemann, who flirted with the top of the leaderboard in the first couple of days, has just birdied the par-four 3rd to climb to Evens for the week.
That’s currently a tie for 17th, alongside the likes of Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood. The latter has just teed off.
Tiger Woods deserves better than to be a ‘ceremonial golfer’, says Paul McGinley
Paul McGinley hopes Tiger Woods can avoid ending his career as a “ceremonial golfer” following his withdrawal from the US PGA Championship.
Woods made the halfway cut with a shot to spare at Southern Hills, but struggled to a nine-over-par 79 in the third round, his worst score ever in the event by two shots.
That left the 46-year-old tied for last among the 79 players to make the cut and tournament officials later announced that Woods had withdrawn from a major championship for the first time in his professional career.
Former Ryder Cup captain McGinley, now an analyst for the Golf Channel, said: “All we can do is wish him well.
“We’d love to see him back, we want to see him back. He’s such a proud player that he doesn’t want to come back and just be a ceremonial golfer.”
Tiger Woods deserves better than to be a ‘ceremonial golfer’, says Paul McGinley
The 46-year-old withdrew from a major championship for the first time in his professional career at Southern Hills
Rory McIlroy off to a solid start
Rory McIlroy’s round is underway and he pars the 1st to stay at evens for the Championship. Just the nine strokes behind Mito Pereira.
All Rory can do is try and shoot low and then hope for something truly bizarre to happen behind him.
Matthew Fitzpatrick three shots off the pace headed into final round at US PGA Championship
Six days after declaring Southern Hills was “not really my cup of tea”, Matt Fitzpatrick heads into the final round of the PGA Championship in contention for a maiden major title.
It came as Tiger Woods withdrew from the tournament just hours after recording his worst score in the event. Woods made the halfway cut with a shot to spare at Southern Hills, but struggled to a nine-over-par 79 in the third round.
But later in evening Fitzpatrick made light of the cold, breezy conditions to card a superb 67 and end a rollercoaster day three shots behind pacesetter Mito Pereira, the PGA Tour rookie continuing to impress on just his second major start.
Pereira went from one behind playing partner Will Zalatoris to four ahead in the space of six holes, then saw his lead cut to a single shot after four bogeys in five holes around the turn before back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14.
The 27-year-old from Chile also birdied the last to card a 69 and finish nine under par, with Fitzpatrick and Zalatoris – who recovered from playing his first seven holes in four over to return a 73 – on six under.
Matthew Fitzpatrick three shots behind headed into final round at PGA Championship
Fitzpatrick made light of the cold, breezy conditions to card a superb 67 on Saturday
Mito Pereira with three-shot lead at PGA Championship as Tiger Woods withdraws
Chile’s Mito Pereira will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the PGA Championship, which will be played without the presence of a previous winner at Southern Hills.
Moments after Pereira birdied the 18th to bring round three to a close, tournament officials announced that Tiger Woods had withdrawn from a major for the first time in his career.
The news came as no real surprise given that Woods had earlier struggled to a nine-over-par 79, by two shots his worst ever score in the event and one which left him in joint last of the 79 players that made the cut.
Whether Woods – who won the 2007 US PGA at Southern Hills – will contest next month’s US Open remains to be seen, although he has previously stated his intention of teeing it up in the 150th Open Championship on the Old Course at St Andrews in July.
Playing in just the second major of his career, Pereira’s third round of 69 gave him a three-shot advantage over England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and halfway leader Will Zalatoris, with Cameron Young a shot further back.
Matt Fitzpatrick relishing chance at securing first major title at PGA Championship
A third round of 67 means Fitzpatrick trails leader Mito Pereira by three shots at the PGA Championship
Rory McIlroy suffers early blow to slip further back at PGA Championship
Rory McIlroy has just teed off on the final day at Southern Hills. Here’s a reminder how he got on yesterday:
Rory McIlroy suffers early blow to slip further back at PGA Championship
After a run of five straight pars McIlroy pulled his tee shot to the par-three sixth into the water and ran up a double-bogey five
Tee times to look out for
A few notable tee times coming up soon, including Rory McIlroy. Here’s some to watch:
5:45 PM: Rory McIlroy, Adri Arnaus
6:05 PM: Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood
6:25 PM: Sam Burns, Gary Woodland
6:35 PM: Lucas Herbert, Max Homa
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