The victory margin was a record for the PGA Championship, surpassing the seven-stroke win in 1980 by Jack Nicklaus for his fifth PGA and seventeenth major title. The winner of the U.S. Open in 2011, also by eight strokes, McIlroy became the sixth-youngest winner of two majors at 23 years and 3 months.[3][4][5]
The following qualification criteria were used to select the field.[6] Each player is listed according to the first category by which he qualified with additional categories in which he qualified shown in parentheses.[7]
Nine players appeared in their first major: Matt Dobyns, Michael Frye, William McGirt, Bill Murchison III, Rod Perry, Corey Prugh, Paul Scaletta, Doug Wade and Bernd Wiesberger.[9]
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, August 9, 2012
In good weather conditions, Carl Pettersson jumped out to a one-stroke lead with a bogey-free 66 (−6). Joost Luiten had raced to eight-under-par through 14 holes, but bogeyed each of his final four holes to fall back into the pack. World number one Luke Donald struggled to an opening 74 (+2), but number two Tiger Woods shot 69 (−3) in the morning wave of players.[10]
The wind gusted 20–30 mph (30–50 km/h) throughout the day on Friday, making conditions much tougher than the first round of the tournament. Scoring was the toughest on record since the championship assumed a strokeplay format in 1958, with the average round being over 78; 72 players made the cut which fell at 150 (+6). Leader Pettersson backed up with a 74 (+2) but that was good enough to stay in a tie for the lead with two other players: Vijay Singh, the 1998 and 2004 champion, shot the lowest round of the day, 69 (−3), while Tiger Woods also rose into a tie for the lead with a 71 in which he made three birdies and two bogeys and stroked only 26 putts. The tough conditions and long course created very slow play; one player, Luiten, chose to complete his second round early on Saturday morning (the other two in his threesome chose to finish their rounds in near-darkness on Friday). He birdied the eighteenth for a round of 76 (+4), which put him at even-par 144.[11]
Weather conditions continued to worsen, and a fierce thunderstorm blew in late afternoon on Saturday, causing play to be postponed for the day with 26 of the 72 players still out on the course. Until the delay, scoring had been a little easier: world number 3 Rory McIlroy surged early with five birdies in his opening eight holes, and a remarkable par save on the third after his drive lodged in a tree. However, a bogey on nine, his final hole of the day, dropped him back into a share of the lead with two-time champion Singh, 26 years McIlroy's senior and attempting to become the oldest major winner in history. They led Adam Scott, also enjoying a fast start, by one, as Scott attempted to shrug off his near miss at the year's previous major. Woods struggled early and was three-over par with a lengthy putt for par at the eighth when play was halted. The overnight clubhouse lead was held by Bo Van Pelt, who carded a five-under 67 early to move to three-under for the week.[12]
Weather delay
The leaderboard when play was halted on Saturday at 4:50 pm EDT:
Ian Poulter made an early charge by making five birdies in a row to start his round, but his charge fizzled on the back nine and he finished with four bogeys in the last six holes. Pettersson was in contention early in the round with a front nine 34 despite a rules infraction where he received a two-stroke penalty from moving a leaf in a lateral hazard, though he also fell out of contention on the back nine when McIlroy pulled away. Defending champion Keegan Bradley tied for third after a final-round 68. McIlroy shot a bogey-free 66 (−6) with only 24 putts, winning the championship by a record eight strokes, capped with a twenty-foot (6 m) birdie putt on the final hole. The previous PGA record winning margin was seven strokes, by Jack Nicklaus at age forty in 1980, his 17th major.[3][4][5][13]
Rory McIlroy
