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Thomas wins PGA Championship in playoff over Zalatoris

Richard Heathcote / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Justin Thomas won the PGA Championship at Southern Hills over Will Zalatoris in a three-hole playoff on Sunday.

Both players entered the playoff at -5. Thomas was seven shots back of the lead entering Sunday's final round before firing a 3-under 67.

The victory marks the 29-year-old's second major after first claiming the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.

PLACE PLAYER ROUND 4 SCORE TOTAL TO PAR
1 Justin Thomas 67 -5*
2 Will Zalatoris 71 -5
T3 Cameron Young 71 -4
T3 Mito Pereira 75 -4
T5 Tommy Fleetwood 67 -3
T5 Chris Kirk 68  -3
T5 Matt Fitzpatrick 73 -3
8 Rory McIlroy 68 -2
T9 Brendan Steele 68 -1
T9 Tom Hoge 69 -1
T9 Abraham Ancer 73 -1
T9 Seamus Power 72 -1

*Playoff winner

Thomas, who now has 15 wins on TOUR, made back-to-back birdies to start his back nine, including draining a 64-footer from the edge of the green en route to the win. He made a late birdie at the par-4 17th to get to 5-under.

Both Zalatoris and Thomas birdied the first playoff hole - the par-5 13th - before the latter was able to grab the edge over the 25-year-old with a second birdie at the par-4 17th. Thomas secured the win with a par on the final playoff hole.

Mito Pereira, the 54-hole leader, entered the 18th hole with a one-stroke lead over Zalatoris and Thomas. But after his tee shot found the water, Pereira carded a double-bogey to miss the playoff by one.

The 27-year-old is the third player in the past 20 years to double-bogey the last hole of the final round in a major to miss the playoff by one. Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie both did so at the 2006 U.S. Open.

Thomas tied the largest final-round comeback at the PGA Championship on Sunday with seven after John Mahaffey did so in 1978.

"You know, it hasn't sunk in just yet," said Thomas following his round, according to ASAP Sports. "I think it did more in the moment. I was jittery, and I almost kind of couldn't feel my limbs walking up to that tap-in."

Thomas opened the tournament with back-to-back rounds of 67 to make it to the weekend, but a third-round 74 on Saturday knocked him back down the leaderboard.

After making two bogeys and two birdies on the front nine Sunday, Thomas went bogey-free on his back nine, making three birdies en route to the 67.

Thomas admitted that his previous winning experience played a part in helping him close out the victory on Sunday.

"I kept telling myself I've been here before," said Thomas. "Although it's been five years, it's somewhere down in there."

Before Sunday's win, it had been over a year since the Kentucky-born player had a win on TOUR. His last win came at The Players Championship in March 2021.

Matt Fitzpatrick, who played in the final pairing with Pereira, shot a 3-over 73 on Sunday to finish in a tie for fifth. Cameron Young, who was in the penultimate pairing with Zalatoris, finished one shot back of the playoff in a tie for third with Pereira.

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