Koepka delivers Fedex-st. Jude win
Clinches WGC regular-season points title, top seed for Fedex Cup playoffs
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Brooks Koepka knows everyone wanted to see a tight final-round duel with Rory Mcilroy.
“That would have been incredible for the fans, for everybody that showed up and I’m sure that’s what everybody wanted,” Koepka said.
Too bad Koepka drained all the drama Sunday on the way to his first World Golf Championships title.
Koepka had three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the front nine and cruised to a three-stroke victory in the Fedex St. Jude Invitational.
Playing with Mcilroy in their first final-group pairing, the top-ranked Koepka closed with a bogey-free 5-under 65 at TPC Southwind for his seventh PGA Tour title. He finished at 16-under 264.
Mcilroy followed his third-round 62 with a 71 to drop into a tie for fourth at 11 under. Mcilroy declined to talk to reporters after the round.
“Rory didn’t play the way he wanted to today, but still it’s so much fun to watch him play,” Koepka said. “You kind of get glued watching him hit balls. I mean, it’s mesmerizing watching him hit. You know it’s always nice to squeak out a victory over probably the best player right now.”
Webb Simpson had a
64 to finish second. Marc Leishman (67) was third, four strokes back. Tommy Fleetwood (66) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (69) joined Mcilroy at 11 under.
Koepka wrapped up the regular-season points title a week early and claimed a $2 million bonus from the Other players of note: Players with local ties: Wyndham Rewards program. He is assured to going into the Fedex Cup playoffs as the No. 1 seed.
Koepka became the sixth player to win a major championship and a World Golf Championship in the same year. He won the PGA Championship for the second straight year in May.
After tapping in for par on No. 18, Koepka celebrated with a little fist pump before hugging Mcilroy.
Koepka had been so close in recent weeks, coming in second at the U.S. Open in June and tying for fourth last week at the British Open. He also had a pair of top-10 finishes in this event when it was held at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, and he also won for the first time at the TPC Southwind, where he tied for third in 2015 and tied for second in 2016 when this course hosted the former St. Jude Classic.
PGA —
At Reno, Collin Morikawa birdied his last three holes to win the Barracuda Championship, making him the second recent college alum to win on the PGA Tour this summer. Morikawa, a California-berkeley graduate, closed with seven birdies against no bogeys in the modified Stableford scoring system, giving him 14 points. He finished with 47 points for a three-point victory over Troy Merritt, who had an eagle chip on the par-5 18th for the win and wound up making par when the chip ran 12 feet by the hole. Morikawa joins Matthew Wolff of Oklahoma State as players who have gone straight from college to winning on the PGA Tour.
LPGA —
At Evian-lesBains, France, Jin Young Ko won her second major title of the season at the Evian Championship and returned to No. 1 in the women’s world ranking. Ko closed with a 4-under 67 in the rain and seized control when
Hyo Joo Kim took a triple bogey from the bunker on the 14th hole. Ko finished at 15-under 268 and won by two shots over Kim (73), American rookie Jennifer Kupcho (66) and Shanshan Feng (68). She also won the ANA Inspiration, the LPGA Tour’s first major of the year.
At Lytham St. Annes, England, Bernhard Langer closed with a 4-under 66 in the rain to win the Senior British Open and extend his record with 11 senior majors. Langer, who started the final round three shots behind Paul Broadhurst, ran off six birdies through 14 holes to seize control with a fourshot lead, and a pair of late bogeys didn’t cost him. The 61-year-old German finished at 6-under 274 for a record fourth Senior British Open title. Broadhurst, trying to win this major for the second time in four years, closed with a 71 to finish alone in second, two shots behind.
Champions —