Mito Pereira had a heavy closing round, but still kept the lead until the last hole - where he hit the ball in the water.
It was a double bogey and Pereira fell to third place after a round of 75 strokes.
Instead, there was a special game over three holes between the Americans Justin Thomas and Will Zalatoris, who were both five under par after the four rounds.
29-year-old Thomas had a final round of 67 strokes in his back, four better than Will Zalatoris, and finally won the special game with one stroke.
Thomas thus climbed a full six places during the closing day.
It became a triple American at the top, when Cameron Young took a split third place, next to Mito Pereira, one stroke behind the top duo.
None of the Swedes in the competition, Henrik Stenson and Alex Norén, got past the "cut" after the second round.
For Tiger Woods, the PGA Championship was his second major race since the serious car accident in February last year, but the star had to jump off after the third round due to pain in his injured right leg.
He was then far behind the lead.