HAVEN, Wis — Jason Day earned his first major title Sunday, winning the P.G.A. Championship at Whistling Straits.
He finished 20 under par, three strokes ahead of Jordan Spieth.
Six times since 2013, Day had posted top-10 finishes in major tournaments, his progress overshadowed by Rory McIlroy and Spieth, who combined for 10 top-10 finishes in that span, including four victories. Day doggedly carried on, and on a sweltering Sunday, he finally made it to the top.
It was his fifth PGA Tour victory and his third this year.
Day, a 27-year-old Australian, took a two-stroke lead into the final round, but even his most ardent supporters wondered if he might wilt under the heat from a remorseless sun and ruthless Spieth, who was aiming to become the third man, and the first since Tiger Woods in 2000, to win three professional majors in the same year.