Aug 5, 2018 3 min read

Nervous at the start, Justin Thomas was in full control at the Bridgestone Invitational to the end. He had a four-shot lead and faced a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole that would only determine his margin of victory.

And then he nearly lost it.

He marked his ball, turned toward the back of the green and saw his grandparents, Paul and Phyllis Thomas, who had never seen him win since his joined the PGA Tour.

Paul Thomas is a career club pro who played himself at Firestone in the 1960 PGA Championship. His grandmother is one of his biggest supporters who navigated her way around the hills of Firestone using a walker in 90-degree heat.

Thomas bowed his head to collect his emotions, which were stronger than when he won the PGA Championship last summer.

“I just got a huge knot in my throat and I just had to put my head down,” he said after closing with a 1-under 69 for his first World Golf Championship title. “I’ve never gotten like that on the golf course before. You just don’t know if they’re ever going to see me win if I don’t win here. So it was pretty cool to get it done.”

They saw a one-man show Sunday that sent Thomas to Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis with high hopes of joining Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners of the PGA Championship in stroke play.

Playing in the final group with Rory McIlroy, the 25-year-old Thomas never let anyone closer than two shots of the lead. He opened made only two birdies and left the mistakes to everyone with range of him. McIlroy finished the front nine with consecutive bogeys and never recovered. Ian Poulter started three shots behind and shot 74. Jason Day made a run with three straight birdies to start the back nine, only to play the final six holes in 5-over par for a 73.

Tiger Woods was never in the picture.

Perry wins 3M Championship: Kenny Perry created more drama than he wanted Sunday in the last 3M Championship.

He closed with a 3-under 69 for a three-stroke victory in the PGA Tour Champions event that is being replaced by the PGA Tour’s 3M Open.

Also the 2014 and 2015 winner at TPC Twin Cities, the 57-year-old Perry matched Hale Irwin’s tournament record of three victories in the final edition of the event that started in 1993 at Bunker Hills.

“It’s an honor. Incredible. He’s one of the greatest players of all time,” Perry said.

Perry’s not done at the course where he finished in the top seven in all but one of his eight appearances, saying he’ll participate in the 2019 3M Open. Players in the top-50 PGA Tour career money list – Perry is 26th – can cash in a one-time, season-long exemption to return to the tour after they’ve lost status.

Hall wins Women’s British Open: Georgia Hall of England reeled in long-time leader Pornanong Phatlum in a final-round duel at Royal Lytham to win the Women’s British Open for her first major title.

Roared on by the large galleries in her home country, the 22-year-old Hall only took the lead for the first time after a 20-foot putt for birdie at the 16th hole and stayed steady to post 5-under 67. Hall won by two shots.