The shot that made Jordan Spieth realize Jason Day wouldn’t be caught

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — Jason Day’s record-setting victory at the PGA Championship on Sunday was so dominating from start to finish that there was was never a moment of doubt the Australian would be taking home his first major win. 

So when did the playing partner who was unsuccessfully trying to catch Day come to the realization that his would be a fruitless effort?

“The tee shot on 11,” Jordan Spieth said without taking too much to think about it. 

Day’s lead over Spieth was three shots at the time, but the young Texan still harbored hope as they approached the par 5 measuring 573 yards. Day kept taking his driver out of his bag and Spieth said he harbored “hope” Day would falter, miss the fairway, take a double bogey and maybe open the door for him to seize his third major of the season. 

But Day didn’t miss. Like he did on 10 of his 14 drives, Day found the fairway. And when the twosome found the ball safely lying 381 yards away with just 166 yards left to the pin, Spieth could manage only one reaction.

“I actually out loud turned to him and said ‘Holy shhhh, you’ve got to be kidding me,’ ” Spieth said, taking care to not actually curse in a press conference. “And then he gave me a little bicep. When he hit that shot and he had what looked like a wedge into the hole, I knew I was going to be playing uphill from there.”

Day made his birdie putt, Spieth missed his. Day’s lead grew to what seemed like an insurmountable four strokes and the back nine turned into a coronation of sorts for one of the best players to have never previously won a major. 

Spieth had the best view of Day’s tour and conducted himself well. When Day struck a nice putt to get close on No. 17, he could be seen criss-crossing television screens across America, giving Day a big thumbs up.

When Day hit his final putt at No. 18, the reigning Masters and U.S. Open champion wrapped him in a hug, knowing exactly what he was feeling. 

Maybe Spieth could have been a bit miffed at himself for falling short when he was right there.

But to quote Pedro Martinez, sometimes you’ve got to tip your hat and call the Yankees your daddy.  

Or the genial Aussie, in this case. Day won the PGA Championship in a record -20 and Spieth said there was no way he would have ever imagined that his final score of -17 wouldn’t be good enough to win. Trailing by two shots at the start of Sunday’s round, Spieth told his caddy Michael Greller that he thought a 69 might force a playoff while a 68 might win the tournament.  

Spieth shot 68 and never got closer than three shots to Day, who went 68-67-66-67 over the four days. Everyone’s fate, not only Spieth’s,  was likely sealed on the front nine, when Day birdied the second and then strung three in a row over the fifth, sixth and seventh holes. 

“Where I was looking to maybe capitalize was to get in early and maybe get that thing tied up in the first six,” Spieth said. “Instead, I was left at four behind.”

Despite his shortcoming, Spieth held his head high and looked to be enjoying what he called “the best loss I’ve ever had.” That proclamation was likely made because of a trio of Spieth’s accomplishments.

• His solo second finish coupled with Rory McIlroy’s 17th-place finish vaulted Spieth to the top of the world golf rankings, an achievement Spieth cited as a life goal and one he’s already reached by age 22. 

• His $1,080,000 PGA payday brought his 2015 earnings to $10,399,715 over 21 events. He’s the first golfer to eclipse the $10 million mark since Tiger Woods did it in 2009. (Woods did it three times while Vijay Singh did it once in 2004, though it took him 29 events).

• His combined majors score of -54 broke the record of -53 set by Woods in 2000. Spieth won the Masters and U.S. Open before tying for fourth at the British Open and now second at the PGA. (To put his season into perspective, the combined winning score for all four majors in 2015 was -58.)

With 234 days left until the next Masters, Spieth will now have to recalibrate a bit. There’s a star turn in the FedEx Cup playoffs coming and the not-so-small matter of defending that No. 1 world ranking. 

Spieth said he’d focus on both, but not before taking a few minutes to reflect on posting one of the all-time great seasons in majors history. 

“It was amazing,” Spieth said. “You only get four a year, so to have an opportunity to win all of them is so cool. I hope to have a season like this one at the biggest stages again. I hope that we can do this again.”

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Kevin Kaduk is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KevinKaduk