Australia's Jason Day won hearts as he lifted the final golfing major of the calendar year – the US PGA Championship - and ended his campaign with a score of 20-under-par at the Whistling Straits in Wisconsin on Sunday.
It was also the 28-year-old's first-ever Major win, and the score registered by him is the highest total in any of golf's majors. Day held off the challenge of newly-crowned World No. 1 Jordan Spieth in the final round to shoot up to the No. 3 position in the world. And he was emotional after the win that entered him into the history books.
"I didn't expect I was going to cry," Day said. "A lot of emotion has come out because I've been so close so many times and fallen short. To be able to play the way I did today, especially with Jordan in my group, I could tell that he was the favorite. Just to be able to finish the way I did was amazing."
"I still want to accomplish that No. 1 goal of mine, which is to be the best player in the world. I'm still motivated and still very hungry for that, even after this win," he added.
Spieth, who finished three shots behind in second place, also lauded the efforts of the Australian.
"He played like he'd won seven or eight majors," Spieth said. "He took it back. He wailed it. It was a stripe show."
On taking over from Rory McIlroy as the world number one, he added: "This is as easy a loss as I've ever had because I felt that I not only couldn't do much about it as the round went on, I also accomplished one of my lifelong goals in the sport of golf. That will never be taken away from me now. I'll always be a No. 1 player in the world," the Texan said.
McIlroy, in his part, was not very good with the finishes on the day, but he was content with the way he got back after the ankle ligament rupture. He finished the campaign with a score of -9.
"I feel like I progressed each and every day," McIlroy said. "If I was to take back anything of this week, it would just be probably that second day when we teed off in benign conditions in the morning and I didn't take advantage of that," the Northern Irishman said.
"It's good to play golf. As you can see out there, I'm hitting it the same distance as I have been, and able to get around 18 holes very easily. So it's not an issue."
For veteran golfer Tiger Woods, it's been another forgettable campaign. The 39-year-old missed the cut in the PGA Championship, when he failed to score a minimum of -2 to progress to the next round.
Nevertheless, he congratulated the efforts of his younger counterpart.
India's Anirban Lahiri posted a score of -13 to finish fifth in the competition along with Brooks Koepka.
This was also an Indian's best-ever finish in a golfing major.
