LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Justin Thomas didn’t win the PGA Championship in his hometown this week, but he walked off the 18th green after Sunday’s round at Valhalla feeling like a winner.
Thomas closed the tournament with a 3-under-par 68 in the final round to finish 13-under par, with a birdie on the last. And, as he was showered with a thunderous ovation on his way off the green, there were tears in his eyes as he clapped back at the galleries.
“It was an unbelievable week,” Thomas said. “I’m bummed it’s over. I had so much fun. The fans were unbelievable. I played some really, really, really good golf. I played plenty well enough to win this week. I had a blast.”
Thomas began the day at 10-under and five shots off the lead. In 40 of the previous 41 major championships, the winner was within four shots of the lead entering the final round. Thomas’ win at the 2022 PGA Championship is the only exception, as he came back from a seven-shot deficit.
“I understood I was going to need to shoot really, really low today,” he said. “I think I just pressed a little too much and just wanted it a little too bad.”
No one had a more maddening final round than Collin Morikawa, who began the day tied for the lead with eventual winner Xander Schauffele at 15-under and didn’t birdie a hole until the 18th.
By then it was too late, with Morikawa having fallen from contention. He finished with an even-par 71 on a day when the contenders were painting the scoreboard red with birdies.
Asked afterward what was missing, the two-time major winner said, “Everything.’’
“Look, to win a major championship, you’ve got to have your solid golf game,” Morikawa said. “People talk about winning with their ‘B’ game, ‘C’ game, ‘A’ game. I felt like even though I’ve been putting the results together, it still feels like I’m playing with a ‘C’ to ‘B’ game.
“I wouldn’t say I’m faking it. I’m grinding and I’m putting together a score, and that’s what you can ask. But if I want to be able to close out the last two, just got to be a little bit sharper, and it’s just not there. Obviously, the putter went cold on me. The putter kept me in this tournament, and it just disappeared today.”
Rory McIlroy’s bid to win his first major championship at the place where he won his most recent one 10 years ago failed.
McIlroy, who filed for divorce just before he came to Louisville earlier in the week, never really got it going after a 66 in the first round and tied for 12th.
“[I] started the week well, and then I’ve obviously played decent over the weekend (68-67),” he said. “The 71 on Friday was obviously not what I was looking for. Obviously [I] put myself too far back.”
Jordan Spieth’s bid to complete the career Grand Slam failed as well, with the PGA the only major title missing from his résumé. Spieth was never truly in contention all week.
Brooks Koepka’s bid to defend his PGA title and win it for the fourth time in his career was derailed by a poor third round on Saturday — a 3-over-par 74. Though he shot a 5-under-par 66 on Sunday, he finished 9-under for the week and in a tie for 26th.
“Not very good, I think it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?’’ Koepka said when asked to assess his week. “I don’t think finishing 30th [26th] is progress. Played good today, played good the other two days. [Saturday] I just didn’t have anything. I don’t think I did one thing good at all.’’
Braden Shattuck finished as the low club pro for the week, finishing 1-under par after a 3-over 73 on Sunday. … The top four finishers at the PGA get into the 2025 Masters unless they were already qualified. That means Thomas Detry gets in after his tie for fourth.
