10 best moments in PGA Championship history
By Luke Norris
6. Rory McIlroy’s record-breaking win in 2012
While Rory McIlroy’s win in the dark in 2014 at Valhalla could have easily made this list, it was his dominating performance at the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island that comes in at number six.
A season earlier, McIlroy had taken a four-shot lead into the final round of The Masters but collapsed with a final-round 80. He recovered nicely a couple of months later with a dominating performance at the U.S. Open at Congressional, breaking the scoring record by shooting 16-under and winning by eight strokes over Jason Day, who we’ll see in a bit with a scoring record of his own.
Now 23, Rory came to Kiawah Island as one of the new faces of the sport and he put on a show for the ages that week. He opened with a five-under round of 67 and was one shot out of the lead. On an extremely tough scoring day in the second round, McIlroy shot a 75 but was still just two shots back of leaders Carl Pettersson, Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods.
Weather continued to be a problem during Saturday’s third round but while everyone else faltered, McIlroy thrived, making birdie on five of his first eight holes to tie for the lead when play was suspended. He continued his third round on Sunday morning and the route was on. He finished his third round with a 67 to take a three-stroke lead into the final round and that lead would only get bigger.
A few players tried to stay close but McIlroy was just too much for the field to handle. He birdied the second and then the third to take a four-stroke lead and then birdied the seventh to get to 10-under. He birdied the 12th and the 16th and took a seven-stroke lead to the final hole, needing a birdie to break the record for largest margin of victory at the PGA Championship, which was held at the time by Jack Nicklaus, who had won by seven at Oak Hill over Andy Bean. Faced with a long birdie effort, Rory closed things out in style to capture his second major championship.
McIlroy has won two major championships since then, including that 2014 PGA Championship but that win at Kiawah Island solidified his position as one of the future faces of the sport.