PGA Championship 2023: Brooks Koepka wins the trophy
LIV’s Brooks Koepka Learns From Masters Collapse, Wins PGA Championship for Fifth Career Major
It was a long road back to the top for Brooks Koepka.
When dealing with injuries over the past two years, he questioned whether he would be able to play at an elite level ever again. The two-time PGA Championship and U.S. Open winner joined LIV Golf in 2022—seemingly as a failsafe for guaranteed income if he wasn’t sure he could cut it on the PGA Tour anymore.
Well, Koepka proved the doubters wrong despite losing the 54-hole lead to Jon Rahm at the Masters. He confirmed those thoughts this weekend at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, where he won the PGA Championship by two shots over Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler.
“Yeah, this is probably the sweetest one of them all because all the hard work that went into this one, this one is definitely special. This one is probably it for me,” said Koepka, who became the 20th golfer in history to win at least five majors.
Koepka, who won $3.1 million—which was nearly $1 million less than his victory at LIV Golf Orlando the week before the Masters—secured the win with a birdie on No. 16, whereas Hovland bogeyed the hole. Scheffler charged up the leaderboard with a 5-under 65 on the day, but it wasn’t enough to catch Koepka, who shot a 67 on Sunday to finish at -9 for the tournament.
Koepka fell flat in the final round of the Masters, as he wound up tied for second with Phil Mickelson after Rahm ran away with it. Leading by one stroke going into Sunday, Koepka vowed to not let history repeat itself, and it didn’t—Koepka actually birdied three of the first four holes to maintain his lead. He was neck and neck with Hovland until the 16th.
Hovland, gunning for his first major win, wound up tied for second with Scheffler. No other golfer was better than 3-under at tricky Oak Hill. Cam Davis, Kurt Kitayama, and Bryson DeChambeau all tied for fourth at -3.
Sepp Straka and Rory McIlroy tied for seventh at -2, while Cameron Smith, Patrick Cantlay, and Justin Rose tied for ninth at -1 as the only golfers to break par for the event.
Aside from Koepka, the big story for the tournament was California course pro Michael Block. After shooting even par for the first three rounds, he was paired with McIlroy on Sunday. Block not only aced the par-3 15th, but his tee shot dropped directly into the hole. That was enough to allow him to tied for 15th at +1, which guarantees him a spot in next year’s PGA Championship at Valhalla in Kentucky.
Rahm, looking to win this event for the first time after winning the green jacket at Augusta last month, couldn’t recover from a 6-over 76 in the opening round. He wound up tied for 50th at +7. With Scheffler’s runner-up finish, it was enough to move the Texan back into the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Up Next
The PGA Tour heads to Colonial Country Club for the Charles Schwab Challenge, which Sam Burns won a year ago. The LIV Golf circuit heads to Washington, D.C. for the first time.
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