Walker’s long route to success after years of struggle

OMETIME S confusing and convoluted, the 98th USPGA Championship will be remembered for a few oddities, quite a par t f ro m Jimmy Walker winning hi s first ever Major af t er holding off a strong finish from world No1 Jason Day.

This was the first Major to allow preferred lies, what America calls “lift, clean and place”. The players were also able to replace balls on the fairways a full club-length from their original spots (not nearer the hole).

Unusually, too, there was no re-pairing of the field bet ween the rainaffected third and fourth rounds, which meant the 54-hole leader, Walker, did not play with Day, his nearest challenger, for the final 18 holes. And despite dire predictions, play finished c l os e to t he scheduled time on a mara t h o n S u n d ay whi c h s aw the pacesetters play 36 holes.

Still, none of those issues were of any concern to Walker, who has spent much of his career on the fringes of the PGA Tour. He was the player of the year on the second-division Nationwide Tour in 2004 and spent the next few seasons battling relegation from the PGA Tour. But by 2014 he was banking more than £4.5million, courtesy of three victories that season.

“I’m not sure why it took me so long to get where I am now,” said the 37year-old from Oklahoma. “I did get injured when I first got on tour — my neck can still be a problem even today — and it was a while before I got over that. I wouldn’t trade anything, though. Sometimes things in life take longer than you might want. And I guess that applies to my career.

“There were a couple of times I thought about walking away. I didn’t want to keep finishing way down the money-list. That’s no fun. I was killing myself and not really having that much to show for it. It costs a lot of money to operate on tour and when you’re not making that much it’s a constant struggle. So I made a conscious effort to try to get better.”

Walker has got better and he showed it in the way he handled a late challenge from Day. The last roll of the 28-yearold Australian’s dice came on the final hole, a reachable par five. Two shots back and clearly in need of an eagle, Day struck a magnificent two-iron to maybe 10 feet from the cup. In response to the inevitable roar, though, Walker — who arrived in New Jersey having missed four of his last eight cuts — holed from 12 feet for a birdie on the penultimate green. Suddenly, the lead was three shots.

Day confirmed hi s s t a t us a s t he game’s best player by making his eagle and taking his score to 13-under. But to no avail. Walker, armed with that crucial extra edge, made a slightly nervy par to win by a single shot.

The new champion did not make it easy for himself on the final hole, however, by pushing his second shot into wet, tangly rough wide of the righthand greenside bunker. As CBS commentator Peter Kostis said: “The first sign of pressure is poor decision-making.” Still, the pitch to 30 feet beyond the pin made more sense. And two putts later — the second from a nervy three feet — Walker had his maiden Major title. And for the first time since 2011, all four of the year’s Majors had been claimed by first-time winners. “It’s surreal,” was Walker’s initial reaction. “It feels sweet. I haven’t been playing that well but I felt something click last week. But I’m having a hard time putting words to this right now. It was so tough and nerve-wracking out there. There really was nothing easy about the day or the week, especially coming down that last hole.”

That Walker has finally joined golf ’s most exclusive club will come as no surprise to the game’s more observant insiders.

“Jimmy just does everything really well,” said renowned swing coach Pete Cowen, who works with British Open champion Henrik Stenson, who finished here at Baltusrol in a tie for seventh. “He’s not the best in any department but there are no real weaknesses. He’s sneaky long off the tee and putts great.

“On the face of it, there is no real logic t o why h e took so long t o b re a k through. Some guys just need longer to get comfortable in uncomfortable situations. That can destroy some players. But Jimmy has figured it out. Nowadays, he always looks comfortable when he is in contention.”

Or winning Majors.