Keegan Bradley, a US PGA Tour rookie in his first major tournament, defeated fellow American Jason Dufner in a three-hole aggregate playoff on Sunday to win the 93rd PGA Championship.
"I can't believe it," Bradley said. "I feel so proud."
Bradley, whose first PGA title came in May at the Byron Nelson Championship, was five strokes off the pace after making a triple-bogey 6 at the 15th hole.
But Dufner, winless in six PGA seasons, squandered a four-stroke lead on the field with four holes remaining in regulation, taking bogeys at 15, 16 and 17.
Bradley's victory, worth a top prize of $1.44 million from the $8 million event, snapped the record six-major US win drought since Phil Mickelson's Masters triumph last year.
It also made this the first year since 2003 that every major champion was a first-time major winner, a run now at seven in a row and 10 of the past 11, and featured the 13th different winner in the past 13 majors.
Dufner, 34, and Bradley, 25, each withstood a wild final stretch to finish 72 holes at Atlanta Athletic Club on eight-under par 272 to force the playoff.
Dufner led by four strokes with four holes to play and enjoyed a five-shot edge on Bradley after the rookie's disaster at the 15th.
But Bradley birdied the par-4 16th and par-3 17th while Dufner made bogeys at 15, 16 and 17, halting his epic collapse with a par at 18 to match Bradley and book a return playoff journey to the nightmare stretch he had just played.