By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

It took Jimmy Walker 188 tries before he won his first PGA tournament. But his sixth win proved to be even more special.

The former Baylor All-American became the Tour's fourth first-time winner of a major this year, holding off a late charge from defending champion Jason Day on Sunday to capture the PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., with a closing round of 3-under-par 67 and 72-hole total of 14-under 266.

"I feel like I can do it now, I can win a major championship," said the 37-year-old Walker, who was inducted into the Baylor Hall of Fame last fall. "It's unreal, it really is. I haven't been playing as well as I would have liked this year, but I felt like some things started clicking last week. And it sure showed this week."

Even after a top-15 finish at the Canadian Open the week before, few people would have given Walker even the slightest chance of winning his first major title against a field that included all of the world's top golfers.

Winless this season, he had missed the cut in the last two majors and four of his last eight tournaments overall and had never finished higher than seventh in the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open or PGA Championship. An up-and-down 2016 season included three previous top-10 finishes, missing the cut five times and a shade under $1.5 million in earnings that had him ranked 57th in money and off the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

"All year, it's been like take a step forward, two steps back, three steps forward, one step back," he said. "I've been kind of in limbo. But I felt like last week I saw something, it felt good. I've been working on my overall attitude on the golf course, and for nine holes (at the Canadian Open) it all clicked."

The unlikely champion opened with a round of 5-under 65 on Thursday, giving him a one-shot lead over Martin Kaymer, Emiliano Grillo and Ross Fisher. With a bogey on the par-5 18th, Walker shot 4-under 66 the second day and dropped into a tie for the 36-hole lead with Robert Streb at 9-under 131.

When third-round play was suspended on a wet and soggy Saturday before Walker had even teed off, it forced Walker and a handful of the leaders to play 36 holes Sunday - the longest day in the PGA Championship since Jim Turnesa beat Chiock Harbert in a 36-hole match-play final in 1952.

"It doesn't happen very often out here that we have to go do that, especially at a major," Walker said. "Wake-up call was super early, a long day. I'd like to think I'm in pretty good shape. But it was a test today, it really was. It was soft and wet and nasty, and it just kind of wears on you. It was nice to have the long break in between rounds. . . . I went back to my bus, took a shower, got rubbed down, relaxed, layed on the couch. I took a little nap. It was only 10 minutes, but man it sure felt good."

Sinking four birdie putts on the back nine, Walker shot 2-under 68 in the morning round and had a one-stroke lead over Day and was two up on British Open champion Henrik Stenson going into the final round.

After nine straight pars, Walker still had a precarious one-shot lead as he made the turn. But then he knocked in a 45-foot bunker shot on the 10th and rolled in a 30-foot birdie on the 11th, giving him a two-stroke cushion coming down the stretch.

"I hit a lot of quality golf shots, hit a lot of greens today and just kind of kept it right out there in front of me," he said. "I felt like I had 30- and 40-footers all day. I made a lot of good short putts - four and five, six-footers - to keep the round going. Which is what you've got to do. You have to do that to win any tournament."

Walker seemed to close the door when he rolled in an eight-footer for birdie on the par-5 17th, stretching the lead to three shots. But Day kept the pressure on, hitting a pair of 2-iron shots to within 15 feet at No. 18 and rolling in his eagle putt for a closing round of 3-under 67 and 13-under 267 total.

"On the 17th, I was thinking if I could birdie that, it would put it out. And we made the birdie," Walker said. "Sometimes, things just don't come easy. Golf is not an easy game. And Jason is a true championship. I wouldn't expect anything less. An eagle on the last hole, that's unreal. So, that really put it on me to make a par. Sometimes, pars are hard, but we got it."

It certainly didn't come easy, though. Needing a par to win, Walker turned down a chance to just lay up and hit a safe wedge shot into the par-5 18th, hitting a 3-wood instead that landed in thick rough to the right of the green and well below the hole.

Walking down the fairway after his tee shot, Walker turned to caddy Andy Sanders and said, "We just send it up to the green, don't we?" Thinking that he's going to make par 19 out of 20 times by going for it from that spot, Walker said he "literally hit it in the worst place you could hit it."

"I didn't mean to, it just happened," he said.

After hitting his chip shot about 35 feet past the hole, he left himself with a three-foot putt that he buried to close out his first career major win.

"There's a lot of emotions going on out there, I'm not going to lie," Walker said. "It's tough. I felt a ton of support from the crowd and the fans. And it was amazing, it really was. It was a battle all day."

Sixteen years after meeting at Baltrusol in a practice round at the 2000 U.S. Amateur, Walker and Sanders celebrated Walker's biggest victory to date. A two-time All-American at Houston who has multiple sclerosis, Sanders has caddied for Walker since 2008.

"We've been together for a long time," said Walker, who moved up to fourth on the U.S. Ryder Cup standings and 11th on the PGA Tour money-winning list at $3,271,771 with the $1.8 million he pocketed this week. "To win our sixth event, first major, here where we met, that's just cool. . . . (Sanders) grinded it out this week. He did a great job. Crowd control was awesome, he read putts great, he didn't let me hit a shot until I was ready. I think he did a great job this week communicating and talking shots, and we were in synch."

Golf writer and Baylor alum Art Stricklin wrote that Cordillera Ranch, Walker's home course in Boerne, Texas, has a big party waiting for the PGA Champion winner when he returns.

"I've already been in contact with the City Manager in Boerne about having a Jimmy Walker parade down Main Street with the trophy," said Charlie Hill, the President and COO of Cordillera Ranch.

Baylor golf coach Mike McGraw said, "Baylor Bears everywhere are proud and extremely happy for Jimmy."

"His story of grit, determination and perseverance is inspiring. He is an incredible asset for Baylor."