10 best moments in PGA Championship history
By Luke Norris
4. Jason Day becomes the first to 20-under
While Rory McIlroy holds the record for the biggest margin of victory at eight strokes, there may never have been as dominating of a performance as the one Jason Day gave golf fans at the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.
Coming into the week, Jason Day was becoming one of the best golfers in the world and had gotten into the top five in the world rankings on the strength of three PGA Tour victories in the last year and a half and had come very close to securing his first major championship, finishing in the top 10 in majors three times in that span, two of those being T-4 finishes.
However, it had been a scary summer for the Australian. During the second round of the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, Day had collapsed on the 18th green due to vertigo but pressed on and actually was tied for the lead heading into the final round before eventually tying for ninth. He played well at The Open with one of those T-4s. He won the RBC Canadian Open the following week and with a clean bill of health was ready to tackle Whistling Straits and did so in historic fashion.
Day opened the week with a four-under round of 68 to sit two back of Dustin Johnson and followed it up with a 67 to get to nine-under for the week. He once again went one better in his third round with a 66 to get to 15-under through three rounds, two clear of 2015 Masters and U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth, and the thought began to sink in that Day could become the first man to finish a major championship at 20-under-par. The previous record had been set by Tiger Woods at The Open Championship at St. Andrews with 19-under but Day bested that by a stroke with a final-round 67 and shared an emotional embrace with his longtime caddie, coach and mentor in one of the best moments in PGA Championship history.
Day’s total of 20-under would be matched at The Open Championship the following year but there’s always something about getting there first. Day would become the number one player in the world just a few weeks later after wins at the The Barclays and BMW Championship.