Koepka hangs on, repeats
Prevails despite DJ surge
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Brooks Koepka built himself a tournament-record 7-shot lead through 54 holes. He needed each and every one of them Sunday afternoon to claim his fourth major title in the 101st PGA Championship at Bethpage Black.
Koepka turned in a 4-over par 74 to finish the week at 8-under 272 for a 2-shot victory ahead of Dustin Johnson. He is the first player to go back-to-back in two different majors at the same time. This was the fifth time a player has gone wire-towire at the PGA, the first since Hal Sutton in 1983.
“There’s a lot of satisfaction for what happened today. This was, by far, the most stressful. I didn’t think Shinnecock was this stressful,” Koepka said referring to last year’s U.S. Open victory when he started the final round in a four-way tie for the lead. “I mean, it played so hard today, and these fairways, I don’t know, 20, 25 yards wide. I didn’t drive it good. Didn’t give myself very many chances from the tee, and you do that at Bethpage, you’re in for a long day, and I was.
“I’m glad I’ve got this (Wanamaker Trophy) sitting next to me. It’s very satisfying this one. This is definitely the most satisfying of all the ones I’ve won.”
Next month at Pebble Beach, Koepka will attempt to be the first player to win three straight U.S. Opens since Willie Anderson (190305).
He had four straight bogeys at holes 11-14, and combined with a birdie by Johnson at 15, there was a buzz at Bethpage. Hours earlier, the question of the day was not whether Koepka would win, but would he smash Rory McIlroy’s record 8-shot win in 2012.
Sensing an epic collapse on the scale of their own Yankees blowing a 3-0 series lead in the 2004 ALCS, the fans began chanting “D.J., D.J.” as Koepka walked off the 14th green making a bogey after his 8-iron into the 149-yard par 3 flew the green on the fly.
The razor-sharp focus Koepka spoke of for much of the week suddenly returned.
“When they started chanting, ‘D.J.’ on 14, it actually kind of helped, to be honest with you,” he said. “I think it helped me kind of refocus and hit a good one down 15. I think that was probably the best thing that could have happened.”
He ripped a drive down the right side of the fairway, putting him in excellent position and allowing him to get off the bogey train. While walking to the ball in the short grass, Koepka was also able to get a glimpse of the pursuing Johnson as the 15th tee and 16th green are separated by about 100 feet. Johnson was in trouble having flown the green with his second shot.
Johnson was unable to get up and down, missing a 7-foot par putt and putting Koepka back in front by 2.
“I knew if I could get off to a good start, which I did, you know, that I could maybe put a little bit of pressure on him,” Johnson said. “Just the last three holes is what got me. Walking off 15 green, well, really, standing on 16 fairway, I’m at 8-under and hit two really good shots there on 16, and I still don’t know how my ball went over the green there. Obviously not a spot where you can go, but hit a great chip and a good putt, and made a 5.
“I knew I needed to birdie one of the last two when I did that.”
There were no birdies in the final two. Johnson made bogey at the par-3 17th and scrambled to a par at the last for a final-round 69, finishing at 6-under. He was the only player to shoot under par each day.
Standing on the tee at 18 with a 2-shot lead, Koepka drove into trouble on the left side in the fescue just above a bunker. He successfully punched his way out of trouble back into the fairway and hit his third to 6 feet and clinched the Wanamaker Trophy with the par putt.
Playing in the final group with Koepka, Harold Varner III carded an 81 and finished tied for 36th. His round was derailed with double bogeys at 3 and 4, the latter including a lost ball.
“That was crazy, but it happens,” Varner said. “Mine happened on the last day. I’m going to get a lot better. It was just really hard. I don’t know what else to say.”
Only six players finished under par. Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay and Matt Wallace tied for third at 2-under, and Luke List was sixth at 1-under.