PGA Championship 2022 LIVE: Leaderboard & reaction as Justin Thomas beats Will Zalatoris in playoff
All the action from the final day at Southern Hills as Mito Pereira takes a three-shot lead into round four
Justin Thomas overturned a record-equalling seven-shot deficit before beating Will Zalatoris in a play-off to win his second US PGA Championship following a dramatic climax at Southern Hills.
Chile’s Mito Pereira held a one-shot lead on the 72nd hole after seeing his birdie putt on the 17th stop agonisingly short of the hole, but pushed his drive into the creek and ran up a devastating double bogey.
That left Thomas and Zalatoris to contest a three-hole aggregate play-off and Thomas birdied the 13th and 17th and parred the 18th to lift the Wanamaker Trophy for the second time, having started the day seven shots off the lead.
That meant the former world number one equalled the biggest comeback in US PGA history, John Mahaffey coming from seven behind Tom Watson after 54 holes to defeat Watson and Jerry Pate in a play-off at Oakmont in 1978.
Thomas had holed from six feet on the par-five 13th to match the birdie Zalatoris had made after finding the green in two, but Zalatoris missed from eight feet for birdie on the 17th after Thomas had driven the green on the 302-yard par four to set up a two-putt birdie.
Zalatoris then could not hole his lengthy birdie putt on the 18th and Thomas safely two-putted for par to get his hands on the Wanamaker Trophy for the second time following his 2017 win at Quail Hollow.
Follow all the reaction from an intriguing final day, below:
Zalatoris makes birdie
Three consecutive pars gets him off to a fine start but things get even better for Will Zalatoris as he knocks in a five-footer for a birdie on the fourth.
He struggled with that distance yesterday but seems to have found his form again with the putter.
Dropped shot!
Now then. Mito Pereira drops back down to eight-under after his par putt on the third rolls around the back of the hole and lips out. Is the door ajar for the chasing pack?
Matt Fitzpatrick (-5) steadily knocks his putt in for par. It’s been a good response from him since the bogey on the first hole.
Putts not dropping for McIlroy
Rory has a 30-ft putt on the 11th for a birdie and sends it curling down the right line but it just runs out of gas a few inches before the hole.
A potentially tricky chip for Pereira is flicked to within five-six feet by the leader. He’ll have that putt for a par on the third.
Pereira in trouble on the third
Mito Pereira is in the rough stuff off the tee on the third hole. He’s got 189-yards to green and whips it over to the left pulling up just short of the dancefloor. Up-and-down to come to save par.
Fitzpatrick is on the dancefloor but leaves himself another long putt for birdie.
Mistake from Mito
Mito Pereira’s tee shot on the third finds the trees over to the right and it’s the first false shot from the Chilean today.
After a par on the last hole, Matt Fitzpatrick (-5) is in pole position on the third with a booming drive down the right side of the fairway.
Rory McIlroy (-3) makes a par on the 10th as does Cameron Young (-5) who follows up and bogey on one and a birdie on two with a par on the third.
Simpson making a move
Webb Simpson (-3) is putting himself into the mix. He’s birdied the fourth and the fifth to move to three-under and is going well out there.
Mito Pereira misses his birdie chance on the second but he’s safely in for another par. Two holes down, 16 to go for the leader.
Pereira approaches the second
Mito Pereira (-9) lands his tee shot in the middle of the fairway and takes a nine iron to the front edge of the green. He leaves it just off the cut but within puttable distance.
Matt Fitzpatrick does something similar but gets a decent bounce up the slope and will have an outside chance of regaining the shot he lost on the first.
Shot back for Young
Cameron Young follows up his bogey on one with a fine birdie on the second. It’s a tricky left-to-right swinger but he reads the line well and nestles it into the middle of the cup to move back to five-under.
After back-to-back birdies on four and five, Tommy Fleetwood (-1) can’t save par on the seventh and records his first bogey of the day.
Par for Pereira
Leaving the flag in for his 30-foot birdie put on the first green, Mito Pereira leaves it short but steps up to tap it in for an opening hole par.
Matt Ftzpatrick (-5) drops a shot. He started poorly yesterday and came back to record a round of 67.
McIlroy thru nine
No joy for McIlroy who misses his birdie putt to the left of the hole. That would have given him some momentum heading into the back nine but he’s gone out in 32 which is three under par.
You feel he’ll have to replicate that score on the back nine if he’s going to have any chance today.
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