Page 15 - aruba-today-20220523

A15
sports Monday 23 May 2022

Thomas wins 2nd PGA title in playoff after 7-shot rally

By DOUG FERGUSON leading pack behind him behind the 10th green.
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Justin was leaking oil. None was bigger than his
Thomas is a major cham- Zalatoris and Camer- 12-foot putt on the 16th to
pion when he least expect- on Young each caught stay one shot ahead.
ed it. Pereira, ever so briefly. All It all came undone with
Thomas matched a PGA of them found trouble in one swing.
Championship record Sun- the rough and in the sand. His sawed-off swing with
day when he rallied from a Thomas nearly holed a long the driver, so effective on
seven-shot deficit at South- bunker shot on the 16th, the previous hole, peeled
ern Hills, and then saved his made birdie from a left to the right and into the
most exquisite shot-making bunker on the reachable creek down the right side
for a three-hole playoff to 17th and had a 10-foot of the 18th fairway. After a
defeat Will Zalatoris. birdie putt he thought he penalty drop, his approach
He closed with a 3-under needed at the end. up the hill started left and
67, matching the low score He missed, and got a re- never cut back, landing in
of a final round made dif- Justin Thomas reacts after his final round of the PGA Champi- prieve. the rough. His chip rolled
ficult more by nerves than onship golf tournament at Southern Hills Country Club, Sunday, Pereira was on the cusp of off the back edge of the
the wind. He seized con- May 22, 2022, in Tulsa, Okla. becoming Chile’s first ma- green.
trol in the playoff with a Associated Press jor champion, and giving His double bogey gave him
3-wood to 35 feet on the off over Tom Watson and started with a 65-foot birdie South America the career a 75, a hard-luck end to
301-yard 17th hole for a Jerry Pate. putt from just short of the Grand Slam. such a promising week.
two-putt birdie. Thomas was still seven shots green to a back pin on the Even after five bogeys, he “On Monday, I just want-
He tapped in for par and behind when he made his par-3 11th. He edged clos- never lost the lead and ed to make the cut. On
stood erect with a smile, a remarkable run, a mixture er with an 18-foot birdie on delivered clutch par saves Sunday, I wanted to win,”
mixture of joy and disbelief. of key birdies and keep- the next hole. from the bunker left of the Pereira said. “I’ll take this to
“I was asked early in the ing mistakes off his card. It He was lurking, while the ninth green and from well learn for the future.”q
week what lead is safe and
I said, ‘No lead,’” Thom-
as said. “I can’t believe I
found myself in a playoff.”
Thomas needed plenty of
help, and Mito Pereira pro-
vided it in a tragic finish.
The 27-year-old from Chile,
playing in only his second
major, took a one-shot
lead to the final hole and
drove into a creek to make
double bogey.
It was the first time since
Phil Mickelson at Winged
Foot in the 2006 U.S. Open
that a player lost a one-
shot lead in the final hole
to lose a major.
Zalatoris looked like he had
thrown away his chances
for a first major — and first
PGA Tour victory — when
he three-putted from just
outside 20 feet on the 16th
hole. But he responded
with a birdie from the bun-
ker at the 17th and holed
an 8-foot par putt on the
18th for a 71.
He joined Thomas at 5-un-
der 275, and they played
on when Pereira faltered.
Thomas, who had gone 14
months since his last victory
at The Players Champion-
ship last year, now has a
PGA Tour victory in each
of his last eight years and
moves to No. 5 in the world.
John Mahaffey in the 1978
PGA Championship at
Oakmont was the other
player to come from seven
shots behind on the final
day. He also won in a play-