Tiger Woods stood tall Sunday -- winning his second straight PGA Championship.
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Tiger Woods now holds the scoring record in all four major championships -- 19-under at The Masters, 12-under at the U.S. Open, 19-under at the British Open and 18-under at the PGA (he shares that mark with Bob May).
Valhalla turned out to be the easiest course in the history of the PGA Championship. Why? A Thursday night thunderstorm. "It went from one of the hardest courses I've ever seen to one of the easiest in a major because the fairways played so wide after the rain," said Stewart Cink. "There were a lot of greens in regulation to be had out there."
Lee Janzen, usually at his best in tough conditions, shot 65 on Sunday to finish 7-under. He had five birdies and an eagle at the second hole.
Jose Maria Olazabal became sixth player to shoot 63 in the PGA on Saturday. But he joined five others as non-winners. The exception: Ray Floyd in 1982 at Southern Hills.
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One that got away
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The bubble finally burst for Steve Dunlap and J.P. Hayes.
For three days, they had been on the leaderboard at Valhalla. Dunlap shot 66 on Thursday, and followed it up with a 68 Fridayt and a 70 while paired in the third round with Tiger Woods. Hayes was the only player in the field to play the first three rounds all in the 60s (69-68-68).
The two were paired Sunday in the next-to-last group at the PGA Championship. And they quickly faded from view.
Dunlap shot 75. He bogeyed the first two holes, including the par-5 second hole, which he'd played in 3-under the first three rounds. He did pick up a pair of birdies at the fifth and seventh holes to keep in contact with the leaders, but bogeys at Nos. 11 and 12 sealed his fate. He finished tied for ninth.
Hayes was 1-under for his round after three holes. But he bogeyed four of the next five holes to shoot 39 on the front side. A birdie on the 18th gave him a 76 -- good enough to tie for 19th place.
Several of the lesser-knowns on the third-round leaderboard did hold up. Greg Chalmers shot 70 and tied for fourth. Franklin Langham shot 69 and was in seventh by himself. Chris DiMarco shot a final-round 68 and climbed to 15th place.
But for Dunlap and Hayes, they'll remember the final round of the PGA Championship -- as an opportunity that got away.
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Speeding it up: Some of the first rounds on Thursday took more than six hours. Sunday, the first twosome of Robert Damron and Frank Dobbs played in just over three hours. Damron shot 70; Dobbs, the only of 25 club pros to make the cut, shot 78.
For the record: Ernie Els didn't finish second. He finished 34th at 3-under. "I missed everything and had a terrible time on the greens," he said.
Aloha: With Woods winning three of the four grand slams, two of the spots in the PGA Grand Slam of Golf are wild cards. Els, appropriately, got one. The other went to Paul Azinger.
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OVERHEARD
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WOODS
On his final-round duel with Bob May: "It was one memorable battle today. And I enjoyed it. I'm sure Bob did, too. And hopefully, all of you enjoyed the same thing." |
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MAY
On how the crowd reacts to Woods: "It's tough out there. I turned to Tiger and said: 'Is this what you get every week?' He said: 'You've got it.' " |
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WATSON
On Woods' accomplishments this year: "Three major championships and the season is not over for Tiger. It would rank right up there with the best." |
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MICKELSON
On Bob May: "He was one of the most difficult guys to beat head-to-head as a junior. It doesn't surprise me at all to see him going head to head with Tiger." |
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