How Justin Thomas won in 2022
Justin Thomas rallied from seven strokes back through 54 holes with a final-round 67 and claimed his second PGA Championship in a playoff with Will Zalatoris. Thomas was still seven strokes behind after an even-par 35 on the front nine. He birdied the 11th with a 65- foot putt from the fringe, the 12th from 18 feet, and the 17th with an up-and-down from a greenside bunker. Meanwhile, he was aided by the struggles of others at Southern Hills, especially Mito Pereira, who led by three through 54 holes. Pereira managed to hold at least a share of the lead all the way to the 72nd hole. Ahead by one at that point, Pereira drove into a creek and made a double bogey on 18 to finish with a 75 and send Thomas and Zalatoris (71) into a threehole playoff with 5-under 275 totals. Thomas won the playoff thanks to a two-putt birdie from 35 feet after a 3-wood tee shot to the 301-yard 17th.
- Thomas shot 67 in Rounds 1, 2 and 4, with the final round matching the day’s best score.
- Thomas ranked T1 in Par 4 Scoring at 3.90.
- Thomas was 5-for-5 in sand saves in the final round, four for pars and one for a birdie.
- Thomas ranked second in Greens in Regulation Percentage and second in Strokes Gained: Putting.
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- Justin Thomas, who also won the PGA Championship in 2017, became the 22nd player to win the event multiple times.
- Thomas’ seven-stroke comeback in the final round tied with the championship record of John Mahaffey, who did it in 1978.
- This marked the first time in eight major championships contested at Southern Hills that the 36- and 54-hole leader/co-leader failed to win.
- Thomas was the seventh consecutive American winner of the PGA Championship.
- Thomas ran his streak of consecutive years with at least one victory on the PGA TOUR to seven.
- Will Zalatoris (T2), who lost to Justin Thomas in a playoff, posted his fifth top-10 finish in his last five major starts. It would be at the U.S. Open that Zalatoris would go on to make it six.