McKinney, Texas — Jason Day won his first PGA Tour event in five years Sunday, shooting a 9-under 62 for a one-shot win over Austin Eckrot and Sei Woo Kim at AT&T Byron Nelson.
Day, winless in 105 games since 2018 Wells Fargo, took his first outright lead when he broke a 20-under tie with hometown favorite Scotty Scheffler on a chip in the Birds in the 4th par-12.
It was the second hardest hole of the week after converting from a par 5 of the first two years Nelson was held at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, about 30 miles north of Dallas.
Playing just over a year after losing his mother to cancer, Mother’s Day finished 23-under while his victory drought ended the week before the PGA Championship.
It was the first of the 35-year-old Australian’s 13 wins on the 2015 PGA Tour. His first career PGA Tour win came at the 2010 Nelson Race.
CT Pan finished 21-under at 263 with Nasreen in the back nine on a career low 62, driving the green on a par-4 14 and making a 24-foot putt. His eagle at par-5 earned him the shot of the day.
Scheffler finished in a 20-under final-round 65 after leveling at 18, as his second shot a day earlier hit the lip of a fairway bunker and stayed in it on the way to bogey.
Ryan Palmer, a 46-year-old from Texas who lives not far from Craig’s Ranch, shot a 68 and shot 4 strokes back as he attempted to become the oldest PGA Tour winner since Phil Mickelson won the 2021 PGA at age 50.
With a downpour near the end of a rainy, intermittent final run, Day put his approach at 18 within 3 feet. The short birdie batter forced Kim Dae to score with ease before he welcomed his children and wife, who is expecting their fifth child.
Kim, who shot 63 and was 22-under with ekroat, was trying to make it four consecutive winners for South Korea in Nelson. Two-time defending champion KH Lee finished 11th under the No. 67, his best run of the week.
Sung Kang was the 2019 winner. Nelson was canceled due to the pandemic in 2020.
Eakroat, a 24-year-old rookie from Oklahoma seeking his first win in his career, had two shots on the 18th fairway, but his approach landed 68 feet from the pin. The width of the eagle was 6 feet tall as the equats settled at 65.
China’s Marty Du, who was playing home and also seeking his first innings win, hit 67 to finish 20 under. He was the first to get that low before a double bogey at No. 8 when his second putt went out of bounds over the green.
Scheffler, the second player who could have overtaken John Rahm for the No. 1 spot with a win, is joined by Tyrell Hutton who was 20th on the Nelson Stadium world rankings at No. 17.