American Justin Thomas won the PGA Championship on Sunday, played at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa (USA), by beating his compatriot Will Zalatoris in the three-hole playoff. All this happened with the permission of the Chilean Mito Pereira, who was leading the tournament until the last hole, but who saw his title options vanish due to a 'double bogey'.
Five years after his first win, Thomas completed his PGA Championship double with the third-best comeback ever in the tournament, going into the final round seven shots behind the leader.
Mito Pereira came in command of the tournament at the last hole and par was enough for him to succeed, but he was condemned for a 'double bogey' that left him out of contention. The Chilean, born in Santiago de Chile in 1995 and a rookie on the PGA Tour, missed the opening shot on the 18th hole and sent the ball into the water, causing him a penalty impact and putting him against the ropes.
It took him another three shots to complete the hole and he ended up with a 'double bogey' that ended his dream and left him in third position in Tulsa. His tournament finished with a total of 276 shots (-4) and in this last round he delivered a card of 75 (5 over par).
Thomas was the only one of the three contenders to finish his round under par, at -3, while Zalatoris recorded one over par and Pereira, five over par.
Both were saved on the last hole, thanks to Pereira's 'double bogey', and played for the title in the 'playoff' of three holes that included the thirteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth.
They had a birdie on the opening hole, but Thomas took command on the second, thanks to another birdie by Zalatoris's par. Thomas had enough par on the eighteenth hole to win this trophy for the second time in his career.
In the Spanish delegation, the Catalan Adri Arnaus ended his first participation in the PGA Championship with 283 total strokes (3). Jon Rahm said goodbye with the best of his four laps of the Southern Hills Country Club course, with 68 shots (2 under par).
The Biscayan, number 2 in the world, completed the tournament with a total of 286 hits (6 over par), with four rounds of 73 (1), 69 (-1), 76 (6) and 68 (-2). Of the four Spaniards who started the tournament only Arnaus and Jon Rahm managed to make the cut.
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