Koepka scored his fifth major victory at the PGA Championship staged at Oak Hill, New York. The 33-year-old pulled away to win by two shots over fellow American Scottie Scheffler and Norway’s Viktor Hovland. Australia’s Cam Davis finished in a tie for fourth place.
Koepka is the first player to win a major championship while competing on the LIV Golf Tour. Koepka, who won four majors between 2017-19, becomes the sixth man to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy on three or more occasions. He joins Bryson Nelson, Seve Ballesteros and Australia’s Peter Thomson with five major titles.
Koepka began the final round with a one-shot lead over Norway’s Viktor Hovland and Canada’s Corey Conners. Scottie Scheffler was four shots back. The big-hitting American asserted his strength early, producing three consecutive birdies at the 2nd, 3rd and 4th holes. Back-to-back bogeys at the 6th and 7th holes threatened to derail his hopes to win his first major in four years. Koepka poured in four birdies over the back nine with two bogeys. The championship defining moment came at the 16th hole with Koepka holding a narrow one-shot lead over Hovland. The LIV star birdied the hole to Hovland’s double bogey which moved him to a four-shot lead with two holes to play. Koepka bogeyed the 17th hole and made a par at the last hole for victory.
Scheffler carded a 5-under 67 to share second place with Hovland. The 26-year-old will take over the world No. 1 spot from Spain’s Jon Rahm when the rankings are updated. It will be the fourth time the Texan has reached the summit of world golf. Hovland was trying to win his maiden major title. The 25-year-old managed a 2-under 68 on Sunday. It is his best result at a major. Hovland was T4 at the 2022 Open Championship and T7 at Augusta this year. Cam Davis was the best-placed Australian. The 28-year-old fired a stunning 5-under 65 on Sunday to jump up the leaderboard into a tie for fourth place with Kurt Kitayama and Bryson DeChambeau. It was the former Australian Open winner’s best result at a major championship. Davis opened his final round with a bogey before producing four birdies and an eagle at the 14th hole.
Cameron Smith matched Davis with a brilliant 5-under 65 final round to finish in a tie for 9th place. The 2022 Open Champion carded seven birdies. It was the 29-year-old’s best finish and first top 10 at the PGA Championship from his eight starts.
Western Australia’s Min Woo Lee finished in a tie for 18th place to earn a special temporary membership on the PGA Tour.
Notables who missed the cut included Jordan Spieth, Matt Fitzpatrick and last week’s winner Jason Day.
The PGA Tour moves to Texas for next week’s Charles Schwab Challenge to be staged at the Colonial Club. America’s Sam Burns is the defending champion.
Final Scores
PGA Championship
1. Brooks Koepka -9
T2. Viktor Hovland -7
T2. Scottie Scheffler -7
T4. Cam Davis -3
T4. Kurt Kitiyama -3
T4. Bryson DeChambeau -3
T7. Rory McIlroy -2
T7. Sepp Straka -2
T9. Cameron Smith -1
T9. Justin Rose -1
T9. Patrick Cantlay -1
Other Australians
T18. Min Woo Lee +2
T29. Adam Scott +5
T40. Lucas Herbert +6
MC. Jason Day
MC. David Micheluzzi
Photo credit: David Cannon /Getty Images
