U.S. PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker felt parts of his game coming together before clinching his maiden Major title.
Walker, 37, held his nerve at Baltusrol as he closed with a final-round three-under 67 to claim a one-shot win on Sunday. He produced a bogey-free last round, holding off World No. 1 Jason Day for a first Major crown.
Walker was struggling to believe his accomplishment afterwards, having missed the cut at the previous two Majors in 2016. "It's surreal. I mean, it really is," he told a news conference.
"I would have said it would have happened the last couple years, the way I was playing. I just had not quite played as well as I would have liked to this year but I knew it was close. I felt some things were clicking last week.
"God, just to be in it and be there and have a chance and then to finish it off is so gratifying. I mean, it really is. Everything I've done up to this point helped this happen."
Walker was put under pressure by defending champion and good friend Day, who produced an eagle at the 18th to pull within a shot. But a par, via a two-putt and after finding the rough with his second shot, at the last saw the American secure his win.
"Jason, when he holes out for eagle on the last hole doesn't give me a whole lot of time to soak it in. It was still game time," Walker said.
"If he makes birdie, I've got a couple to play with and I can relax a little bit, but I didn't get to relax. I was standing out there on the fairway and Andy [Sanders, caddie] and I both said, 'let's go for it'.
"I didn't say this, but I figured, 19 times out of 20, you're going to make a five going for the green from right there. We had a good front number, and that's what we did, and went with it.
"I ended up having to make a little, you know, tester coming in and just buried it. It was awesome."
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