Koepka returns to golf’s mountaintop, wins PGA for fifth major title

ROCHESTER, NY (Reuters) – Brooks Koepka dialed up seven birdies and slammed the door on playing partner Viktor Hovland to win the PGA Championship on Sunday at Oak Hill Country Club, securing his fifth career major title and the first by an active member of LIV Golf.

Koepka stuck his approach at the last hole pin-high and received an ovation as he ascended to the green. He pumped his fist and embraced his caddie after a finalround, 3-under 67, finishing at 9-under 271 for the week.

Koepka won the 2017 and 2018 US Opens and the 2018 and 2019 PGA Championships and battled knee and hip injuries for some time after that. With his fifth major, he surpassed Rory McIlroy, Ernie Els and other greats while tying the likes of Byron Nelson and Seve Ballesteros.

“This one is definitely special,” Koepka said. “I think this one is probably the most meaningful of them all with everything that’s gone on, all the crazy stuff over the last few years. But it feels good to be back and to get No. 5.”

Koepka finished the job Sunday after squandering a 54-hole lead at the Masters last month and tied for second.

“I’ve always learned more from the four times I finished second in a major than the five times I’ve won now,” Koepka said. “I think failure is how you learn. You get better from it. You realize what mistakes you’ve made. Each time I’ve kind of made an adjustment. It’s more mentality than it is anything.”

Hovland, the 25-year-old Norwegian, made a long birdie at No. 18 for a 68 to tie Scottie Scheffler for second at 7-under 273.

It was his best result at a major and his third straight top-10 finish.

Trailing by one at the 16th hole, Hovland attempted to get out of a fairway bunker and his ball embedded in the face of the bunker in front of him – the same misfortune that befell Corey Conners of Canada when he led the championship Saturday evening. Hovland was given free relief but had to punch out of the rough.

Koepka then took aim at the 16th pin and left himself just 5 feet for the birdie that clinched the title. Hovland made double bogey, a three-stroke swing on the hole.

After steady rain turned Friday afternoon and Saturday into a slog, players and fans enjoyed perfect weather Sunday, leaving the course ripe for lower scores. No one had shot better than 66 through three rounds, but Scheffler, Australians Cam Davis and Cameron

Smith, Kurt Kitayama and Austria’s Sepp Straka all posted 5-under 65 on Sunday.

Davis, Kitayama and Bryson DeChambeau (70) tied for fourth at 3-under 277. Straka finished tied for seventh at 2 under with Northern Ireland’s McIlroy, who shot his third straight 69. Smith, Patrick Cantlay (66) and Justin Rose (71) tied for ninth at 1 under.

Koepka left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf in the summer of 2022. The Saudi-funded breakaway league landed more star players than initially expected, Koepka among them, and the major title could serve to validate LIV as it fails to garner TV ratings.

“I definitely think it helps LIV, but I’m more interested in my own self right now, to be honest with you,” Koepka said. “Yeah, it’s a huge thing for LIV, but at the same time I’m out here competing as an individual at the PGA Championship.”

World No. 2 Scheffler opened with six straight pars before making his move. The 26-year-old finished with a 4-under 31 on the back nine to score his eighth top-10 finish at a major, all since 2020.

Michael Block, the club professional who entered the day six back after three even-par rounds of 70, punctuated his week with a dramatic hole-in-one at the par-3 15th that flew straight into the hole without a bounce. He carded a 71 and tied for 15th, which earned him an exemption into next year’s PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.

Koepka met up with Block ahead of their dual trophy ceremony – the Wanamaker Trophy for Koepka, low club professional honors for Block.

“I heard you’re buying drinks,” Koepka semi-jokingly said.