Rory McIlroy requires record comeback at 97th PGA Championship
Last Updated: 16/08/15 8:00am
We take a look at the top five comebacks at the PGA Championship, with Rory McIlroy requiring a nine-shot recovery to win the 97th edition at Whistling Straits.
The world No 1 trails Jason Day heading into the final day, needing a record swing in order to retain the Wanamaker Trophy. Here are the best comebacks in major history...
5. Bob Tway
Greg Norman held the lead going into the final round of every major championship in 1986, and the PGA Championship at the Inverness Club was no exception.
But the Australian was usurped in Ohio by Bob Tway, who overturned a four-stroke deficit to clinch his only major title, before later being named PGA Player of the Year.
Tway's comeback began with Norman's double-bogey at the 11th, and ended by holing from a bunker at the last to win by two shots.
4. Keegan Bradley
Despite trailing by just a single stroke at the start of the final round, Bradley found himself five shots off the lead with three holes remaining.
A gain at 16 followed by a 35-foot birdie on the 17th, coupled with three consecutive bogeys by Jason Dufner, forced a play-off between the Americans at the Atlanta Athletic Club in 2011.
Bradley wasted no time in the three-hole showdown, triumphing by one-shot after a birdie at the first. "I can't believe it, I feel so proud," the 25-year-old said afterwards - and rightly so.
3. Bob Rosburg
Bob Rosburg trailed Jerry Barber by six shots going into the final round at the Minneapolis Golf Club in 1959.
Despite Rosburg carding the best round of the final day with 66, Barber still looked in control with three holes to play.
Three pars would have been enough for Barber, but two bogeys meant he ended the tournament one stroke behind Rosburg.
2. Steve Elkington
Ernie Els set a three-day record at the PGA Championship in 1995 with 197, but was unable to prevent Steve Elkington from lifting the Wanamaker Trophy on the final day.
Elkington fired a final-day 64, which remains the greatest closing round by a PGA champion to date, and he was joined in a play-off by Colin Montgomerie when the Scot holed an 18-foot birdie at the last.
As if Elkington's 64 wasn’t enough, he buried a 25-foot putt for birdie on the first extra hole for victory.
1. John Mahaffey
Mahaffey's seven-shot comeback in 1978 remains the greatest in the history of the PGA Championship.
Tom Watson offered a helping hand, struggling to a final-round 73, while Mahaffey ripped through the course with a stunning 66.
A four-foot miss by Jerry Pate at the last forced a play-off, which Mahaffey won with a birdie on the second to avenge his 18-hole play-off defeat at The Open three years earlier.
