Jimmy Walker

Walker enjoyed the most significant moment of his career at the 2016 PGA Championship when he parred the 72nd hole at Baltusrol Golf Club to win by a stroke over Jason Day. Opened with scores of 65-66 to tie the lowest opening 36-hole score in PGA Championship history, a nine-under 131. Had it not been for a bogey at 18 in the second round, he would have tied the record for the lowest opening 36-hole score of 130 in major championship history. Due to inclement weather, he was one of 10 players forced to play 36 holes Sunday, when he posted scores of 68-67 to claim his first major title.
Walker was born in Oklahoma City, Okla. After high school, he played for Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Walker turned professional in 2001 at age 22. He learned the game from his father, a scratch golfer, and met his wife, Erin, at a 2004 Korn Ferry Tour event, where she was a tournament volunteer. Played on mini-tours around the United States and on the Canadian Tour. In 2005, he suffered a neck injury in Hawaii, and it took him until the summer to fully recover. Played on the 2014 and '16 U.S. Ryder Cup teams and the 2015 U.S. Presidents Cup teams.
2002 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 10; In Money - 8; Top-10 Finishes - 2; Scoring Average - 70.82 (rank N/A); Money - $58,962 (rank 74th); Best Finish - T-4th, Utah Classic. They also won the Scottsdale Swing at Eagle Mountain on the Canadian Tour and events on the Gateway Tour.
2003 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 18; In Money - 13; Top-10 Finishes - 5; Scoring Average - 69.76 (rank 8th); Money - $146,516 (rank 31st); Best Finish - T-2nd, Permian Basin Classic.
2004 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 25; In Money - 20; Top-10 Finishes - 7; Scoring Average - 70.06 (rank 5th); Money - $371,346 (rank 1st); Best Finishes - 1st, BellSouth Panama Championship, Chitimacha Louisiana Open.
2007 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 29; In Money - 21; Top-10 Finishes - 2; Scoring Average - 70.77 (rank 48th); Money - $196,896 (rank 25th); Best Finish - 1st, National Mining Association Pete Dye Classic.
2010 Notes: He had a pair of top-5 finishes, including a career-best T-3rd at the Valero Texas Open in his hometown of San Antonio. He retained his PGA Tour card for a second consecutive year.
2011 Notes: He had his best year so far, with personal bests in top-10s (4), top-25s (7), cuts made (16), FedExCup finish (50th), and money-list finish (67th).
2012 Notes: He had six top-10s (his most in a single year) and three T-4ths at the Northern Trust Open, Wyndham Championship, and the Frys.com Open. He finished 62nd in FedExCup standings and 48th on the money list with earnings of $1,638,419.
2013 Notes: Finished T-2nd at the Greenbrier, T-3rd at the AT&T Pebble Beach and T-4th at the Farmers Insurance Open. He was 36th in the FedExCup standings for the year and 30th on the money list. In April 2013, he wrote a letter to Butch Harmon looking for help and started working with him a month later. Harmon could point Walker in the right direction, not only with swing tweaks but building his confidence.
2014 Notes: Won the first event of the year, the Frys.com Open, by two strokes over Vijay Singh in his 188th PGA Tour start. Became the season's first two-time winner, taking the Sony Open in Hawaii. He birdied four of his last five holes to shoot a bogey-free, seven-under-par 63 to defeat Chris Kirk by a stroke. The win in Hawaii came just four days shy of his 35th birthday. Entered the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a six-stroke lead and won by only one stroke after a 74 Sunday. It took a five-foot par putt at 18 to seal the win and avoid a playoff with Dustin Johnson and Jim Renner. His third win of the season came in his eighth event, one of the best starts by a player in recent years other than Tiger Woods. Since 1995, he is the fourth player (11 instances) to win three events in eight or fewer starts to begin a season (David Duval, Phil Mickelson, and Woods). One of nine different players since 2004 to have three or more wins in a season. The others are Woods, Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Kenny Perry, Rory McIlroy, Jim Furyk, and Steve Stricker. Crafted a T-8th at the Masters and T-6th at The Players Championship, T-9th at the U.S. Open, T-7th at the PGA Championship, and a T-9th at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Played in all four FedExCup playoffs and finished the year 7th in the FedExCup standings (was first from the opening event of the year through WGC-Bridgestone) and 4th on the money list. In his Ryder Cup debut, he went 1-1-3 in five matches in the European team's victory at Gleneagles in Scotland.
2015 Notes: After finishing 63rd in defense of his Frys.com Open title, he was T-4th at the Shriners Hospitals. At the beginning of the calendar year, he was leading the Hyundai Tournament of Champions on the second nine in the final round before Patrick Reed made a big sprint, which included a holed-out eagle at the 16th hole. Reed made a birdie on the first playoff hole to defeat Walker. The following week, Walker continued his fine play, shooting 62-63 over the weekend for a nine-stroke win at the Sony Open in Hawaii. On the West Coast swing, he earned a T-7th at the Farmers Insurance Open. He crafted another dominating performance six weeks later at the Valero Texas Open to win the event by four strokes over Jordan Spieth. He came close to winning again at the AT&T Byron Nelson, where he finished T-2nd. Finished the year 16th in the FedExCup standings and 10th on the money list. In his Presidents Cup debut, he went 1-3-0 in his four matches in the U.S. victory in Korea.
2016 Notes: A year after losing to Patrick Reed in a playoff at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Walker finished T-10th at the 2016 event for his first top-10 of the season. He entered the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open, one stroke off the lead, and took a one-stroke lead for himself through 10 holes when play was called for the day. They returned Monday at seven-under-par but made four bogeys in terrible conditions over the remaining eight holes to post a 77 and finish T-4th. Shot a final-round 66 at the WGC-Cadillac Championship to jump from T-17th to 6th place for his third top-10 of the season and his best performance in 10 previous WGC starts. This was his last top-10 until his win at the PGA Championship. After missing two cuts in a row, he finished 3rd at the Deutsche Bank Championship, which helped him reach the Tour Championship for a third consecutive year. Played 25 PGA Tour events, finishing 14th in the FedExCup standings and 10th on the money list. He made his second Ryder Cup appearance, going 1-2 in his three matches at Hazeltine. In late November, he finished T-2nd at the ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf with Rickie Fowler at Kingston Heath Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia.
2017 Notes: Finished T-9th at the SBS Tournament of Champions, his only top-10 of the year. At the Valero Texas Open, Walker revealed that he got some unsettling news the day before the first round at the Masters, a doctor's diagnosis that he had Lyme Disease. That answered the big question he had about being extremely fatigued since Thanksgiving. Each case is different, but the most challenging thing about this disease is that it can take months to years to run its course. They played in just one FedExCup playoff event, missing the cut at the Northern Trust. He finished 111th in the final FedExCup standings.
2018 Notes: Played 23 PGA Tour events, making 17 cuts with four top-10 finishes. Placed 75th in the FedExCup standings. Closed with a five-under 67 to finish T-8th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, seven shots behind champion Ted Potter, Jr. Enjoyed a stretch of good results, starting with a 4th at the Valero Texas Open, three strokes behind winner Andrew Landry. Finished T-2nd at The Players Championship, four strokes behind winner Webb Simpson. This was Walker's best finish since winning the 2016 PGA Championship. The following week, he finished T-6th at the AT&T Byron Nelson.
2019 Notes: Played in 22 PGA Tour events, making 15 cuts with three top-25 finishes. Best finish, a T-19th at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Ranked 158th in the FedExCup standings.
2020 Notes: Played in 16 PGA Tour events, making six cuts with two top-25 finishes. He was 179th in the FedExCup standings. Best finish: T-21st at the Honda Classic. Due to problems with Lyme Disease, his Official World Golf Ranking has taken a beating. After his 2016 PGA Championship victory, he ranked 15th, but after 2017, he was 68th. After 2018, he was 88th and dropped to 229th at the end of 2019. After the Tour Championship, he was 339th.
2021 Notes: Played in 25 PGA Tour events making 12 cuts with one top-ten finish. It was 166th in the FedExCup rankings. At the Memorial Tournament, he entered the final round T-38th and recorded a bogey-free 7-under 65 to finish T-6th. He marked his first top-10 on the PGA Tour since the 2018 AT&T Byron Nelson (T-6th).
2022 Notes: Played in 14 PGA Tour events making six cuts. He only had one top-25 finish, T-24th at the Shriners Children's Open. He finished 202nd in the FedExCup rankings. From 2019 to 2022, Walker earned $1,706,461, barely enough to pay expenses and bills for a player who had five years of earning $2 million or more, including $5,787,016 in 2014. His bout with Lyme disease, mononucleosis, West Nile virus, and bacterial pneumonia caused him to lose confidence. After missing the cut at the Valero Texas Open, he felt his career was finished and talked with his family about walking away from golf. The Texas Open was his last start of the year. After six months off the tour, he realized he had missed the PGA Tour. At the end of 2022, Walker got a pleasant surprise. The PGA Tour has a one-time exemption for anyone in the top 50 of the career money list. Walker never used that exemption, but at the time was 65th on the career money list. But with the advent of LIV Golf, the tour redid the career money list, and Walker fell at 50th, which meant he could use the exemption to play on tour in 2023. For him, it was a no-brainer this one last chance.
2023 Notes: After finishing T-25th at the Fortinet Championship, Walker missed the cut in 8 of his next ten cuts. In between the streak, he finished T-13th at the Farmers Insurance. At the Valero Texas Open, the same event he quit, he finished T-22nd. In his next start at the RBC Heritage, he opened with rounds of 65-65 but fell back with rounds of 72-73 over the weekend to finish T-25th. The good news was that his game was coming around. At the Mexico Open, he finished T-15th and then T-14th at the Wells Fargo and felt that his game was on the rebound.