15 August,2017 08:00 AM IST | Charlotte (US) | V Krishnaswamy
The ball suspended between the cup and lip for almost 12 seconds before dropping may well have been the moment of the 99th PGA Championships
US golfer Justin Thomas kisses the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the 99th PGA Championship in Charlotte, US on Sunday. Pic/Getty Images
The ball suspended between the cup and lip for almost 12 seconds before dropping may well have been the moment of the 99th PGA Championships. By then Justin Thomas had turned his back on it in disbelief that it had not dropped. So he did not even see it fall.
Thomas carded a final round of 68 to total 8-under and win by two shots over Patrick Reed (67), Francesco Molinari (67) and Louis Oosthuizen (70), while Hideki Matsuyama (72) and Rickie Fowler (67) were Tied-fifth at 5-under.
Thomas got a share of the lead for the first time and did not let go after that till he had the Wanamaker Trophy in his hand. Minutes before that he pulled his drive and it hit the same tree he had found two days ago. As Thomas said, "So I feel like that tree kind of owed me one. I talk to my ball a lot and any time it's going somewhere, I didn't wish it would, I probably say, 'get lucky' or something. And I said that in the air, 'get lucky', just spit it out for me, please. And it spit it out, and right in the middle of the fairway."
Then came 'that' putt. Recalling that moment, Thomas said, "The putt was pretty funny, too, because I didn't even see it go in. I was more so looking at Jimmy, asking, How does it not go in? And as soft as it was going, I felt like the grain had to take it. And honestly, I swear, when it got there, I was like, 'This ball has to go in'. There's no way that it can stay there."
