Jason Day wins 1st major with record-breaking run at PGA Championship

A major champion at last.

Jason Day captured his elusive first major title with a record-breaking round Sunday afternoon at the 97th PGA Championship. As he tapped in a par putt on the 18th at Whistling Straits - and before tears could completely fill his eyes - Day established a new major championship scoring record at 20 strokes below par.

The 54-hole leader's perch atop the leaderboard was never truly threatened. He mashed his ball from tee to fairway all afternoon and outpointed every player who was in contention at the start of the round - including two-time major winner this season and Sunday playing partner Jordan Spieth - with his 5-under 67.

The win snaps a stretch of agonizingly close finishes on the major circuit, and satiates a hunger that was borne on the course he conquered this weekend. Back in 2010, and on the same Lake Michigan shores, Day placed in the top 10 at a major championship for the first time in his career.

Five years later, and now with 10 top-10 finishes to his credit, Day finally has the one he can call perfect.

"I didn't expect I was going to cry," he said, accepting the Wanamaker Trophy. "A lot of emotion has come out because I've been so close so many times and fallen short. To be able to play the way I did today, especially with Jordan in my group, I could tell that he was the favorite.

"Just to be able to finish the way I did was amazing."

Meanwhile, after his 4-under 68, Spieth won't go home empty-handed for one of the most dominant major championship seasons in golf history. His second-place finish means he'll officially usurp Rory McIlroy atop the World Golf Rankings on Monday, ending a year-plus reign.

"Yeah, it's by far the best consolation, by far the best loss I've had," Spieth said, admitting he knew he already clinched the No. 1 ranking as he walked the 18th fairway.

Spieth, too, re-wrote history Sunday, accruing a record 54-stroke under par total at the four majors after gaining an additional 17 throughout the life of the tournament.

Spieth, McIlroy, and quickly prospering young stars like Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, and Billy Horschel are proof the sport has already become a young man's game. But just because Day was forced to wait a little longer than others doesn't mean that the PGA Championship, like Zach Johnson's Open win, is one for the old guard.

Day should have the better part of two decades to compete for more trophies and fill out the major championship mantle that suddenly has far less room. And it will be easier, unquestionably, to fill out the rest having shed the label - "the best player without a major" - that he fulfilled a life-long dream in removing Sunday in Wisconsin.

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