CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Of course, any major would have been terrific, but Justin Thomas winning the PGA Championship added extra luster.

Thomas, from Goshen, Ky., got to spend time around the PGA Tour growing up because his father was heavily involved with PGA of America. Mike Thomas once served as a national board member and had been an official at both the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup.

So that birdie on the 17th hole at Quail Hollow Club, all but clinching the title, was euphoria family-style.

“To have my dad here, and let alone a PGA (title),” Thomas said in the post-tournament news conference. “To have him here, and my mom and my girlfriend? That’s great.”

Thomas started the day at 5-under. By the end he was alone at 8-under, despite a bogey on No. 18.

There was a three-way tie for second at 6-under, between Italy’s Francesco Molinari, Patrick Reed of The Woodlands, Texas, and Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa.

Thomas had six birdies in his final round, none more dramatic than hole No. 10, a par 5. Thomas’ putt rolled to the edge of the cup. He stared for a few seconds, then turned away from the hole, just as the ball slipped in.

Thomas’ first hole Sunday was nearly a disaster. He hit into a bunker and finished with a bogey. It was oh-so-close to a double-bogey.

“The putt on 1 was pretty big,” Thomas recalled. “Starting with a double would have been pretty terrible. “

Kevin Kisner of Aiken, S.C., led going into the final round, playing a low-risk style that served him well on a course surrounded with gnarly Bermuda-grass rough.

Kisner would have had to make up two stokes on the final hole, so he had little to lose chasing an eagle on No. 18 that would have forced a playoff. His drive found a creek that ended his chance for a first major title.

“It was probably my best swing of the day, just pure, and I looked up and it just hooked early. Just came down right in the water,” Kisner said.

At 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds, Kisner can’t match his bigger competitors for pure power. So he had to outthink them to be in contention.

“I didn’t make the putts that I have been making the first two days over the weekend. A lot of misses inside of 10 feet, and at some point, length is going to catch up with me,” Kisner said.

“Guys hitting it 30 yards by me have an advantage if I’m not hitting putts inside 10 feet.”