On the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan, Jason Day fulfilled his destiny today.
The man from the Queensland town of Beaudesert, just south of Brisbane, won his first major championship at Whistling Straits, blowing away the field to take the United States PGA Championship.
He becomes the fifth Australian — after Jim Ferrier, David Graham, Wayne Grady and Steve Elkington — to win the Wanamaker Trophy, and the first of his countrymen since Adam Scott's Masters triumph in 2013 to secure one of the four majors.
The world No. 5, soon to rise higher in the rankings, closed with a brilliant 67 to win by three shots, holding off the new world No. 1 Jordan Spieth, South Africa's Branden Grace and Britain's Justin Rose. Spieth, the phenomenal 22-year-old American, finished outright second to overtake Rory McIlroy and climb to the top ranking in world golf for the first time.
Day was rarely threatened on the final day, finishing at 20-under-par for the tournament, breaking the major championship record under-par score of 19-under set by Tiger Woods at the Open Championship in 2000.
The Queenslander showed little emotion through most of the final day until he lagged his birdie putt at the 18th hole to tap-in distance, and then he burst into tears as he marked and waited for Spieth, knowing that it could not be ripped away from him now.
Afterward, he embraced his American wife Ellie and his young son Dash behind the 18th green. The couple are expecting a second child soon.
Day, 27 and now based in Columbus, Ohio, had endured a string of near-misses in the majors since 2010, with nine previous top-10 results and three runner-up finishes.
He was tied for the lead through three rounds in both the US Open and the Open Championship at St Andrews earlier this year, but could not complete victories, including a heartbreaking finish at the Old Course where his putt for a playoff stopped short of the cup.
Starting today with a two-shot lead, he immediately made a two-putt birdie at the par-five second to steady his nerves, and he was never headed all day, although South Africa's Branden Grace momentarily pulled within a shot as the Australian played the sixth hole.
After his strong start, Day made further birdies at the fifth, sixth and seventh holes, the last of the three with a bombed 10-metre putt, set it up. By the time he made a nice par-save on the ninth and his main rival Jordan Spieth took a bogey, he had a four-shot lead, but there was much golf to be played.
Day, flanked by his mentor and caddie Col Swatton, would not waver this time. At the par-five 11th, he bombed a 350-metre drive, hit the green in two and made another birdie. At 12, he made a fine up-and-down from a greenside trap to save par, then at the par-four 14th he delivered a killer blow to Spieth, making birdie from three metres to reach 20-under-par.
A bogey after finding the fairway trap at the 15th was a spoiler, and his lead came back to three shots, but at the par-five 16th he hit a peerless long iron second shot to the green and ventured a glance to Swatton as though to say: 'Almost there'. Day made birdie, and Spieth birdied there too, but the American was running out of holes.
Day held his three-shot buffer to the 18th, and piped his drive, then hit the green in regulation. There would be no glitches; it was breathtaking golf on a difficult course.
"I didn't expect I was going to cry,'' he said at the presentation. "A lot of emotion has come out just because I've been so close, so many times in major championships and just fallen short. Just really close. And to be able to play the way I did today, especially in tough conditions, especially with Jordan in my group. I mean, I could tell that he was the favorite, just to be able to play the way I did, finish the way I did was something special.''
Day had visualised the moment for years, since he won the Australian boys' championship in 2004, and the world junior. He wants to be world No. 1, and he is close now.
With the barriers down, who knows how many majors he can win? He has virtually no weakness in his game, and he sits comfortably with McIlroy and Spieth among that cluster of great, young players who have taken the mantle from a tiring Tiger Woods.
Arise, Australia, and acknowledge a new champion of world sports.