Brooks Koepka received his third PGA Championship and his fifth Major general when he downed the very best at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill.
Brooks Koepka held a one-shot lead over Viktor Hovland whereas standing on the tee at the par-4 sixteenth gap late Sunday at the PGA Championship. Koepka had constructed an early three-shot lead, however Hovland continued to chip away and, with three holes remaining, was as shut as he’s ever been to capturing his first main championship.
Twenty minutes later Koepka was main by 4. Thirty minutes later Koepka was holding the Wanamaker Trophy for the third time within the final six years.
It all unfolded that shortly at venerable Oak Hill.
Hovland faltered at PGA Championship
On the sixteenth, Hovland hit his strategy shot from the bunker into the thick, gnarly tough simply guarding that very same bunker, needed to take a drop as a result of the ball was embedded and finally made a double-bogey 6. Koepka, seizing the second, hit his strategy to 5-feet and made birdie to provide a three-shot swing.
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Koepka shot 72-66-66-67 for a 9-under-par 271 whole. Hovland (68) and Scottie Scheffler (65) tied for second place, two pictures behind.
“This is incredible,” Koepka stated afterward whereas holding the Wanamaker Trophy. “This is just the coolest thing.”
It was already rarified air for Koepka, having entered this week with 4 main championship titles and being pissed off due to an in depth name at the Masters final month the place he finally tied for second place after capturing a final-round 75. Now he’s joined an inventory with Walter Hagen (5), Jack Nicklaus (5), Tiger Woods (4), Gene Sarazen (3) and Sam Snead (3) as the one males to win at least three PGA titles.
“I’m not sure I even dreamed of it as a kid, that I was going to win this many,” Koepka stated about profitable his fifth main, becoming a member of solely 19 different males in carrying out that feat. “This is the coolest thing. I’m just happy to do it in front of these New York fans. I love you guys.”
Koepka was quick out of the blocks
Koepka, 33, began Sunday with birdies on the second, third and fourth holes however backed up with bogeys on Nos. 6 and seven and held a one-shot lead standing on the tenth tee. He promptly birdied the tenth gap, however bogeyed the eleventh and responded with birdies at 12 and 14 earlier than the dagger got here on the sixteenth in opposition to Hovland’s double bogey.
Hovland, 25, had completed inside the highest seven in every of the earlier two majors and was trying so as to add one to his tally. He performed fantastically for 15 holes, making 4 birdies in opposition to a lone bogey earlier than his undoing got here in the proper fairway bunker with three holes remaining.
“I thought I handled myself pretty well today,” Hovland stated. “Pretty unfortunate on 16. But I still didn’t feel like I gave it away. Brooks played awesome golf today, he made a lot of putts and hit a lot of great shots and he deserved to win.”
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Scheffler quietly plodded away forward and made 5 birdies in an eight-hole stretch in the midst of his spherical. He closed with a birdie from 16 ft on the 18th gap to sneak right into a second-place tie. A 3rd-round 73, and Koepka, after all, was what saved Scheffler from contending extra intently for his second main championship. He did, nevertheless, transfer again to No. 1 on the earth. Former World No. 1, Jon Rahm, tied for fiftieth place.
The different main story of the day was PGA Professional Michael Block, the Head Professional at Arroyo Trabuco in Mission Viejo, Calif., who captured the hearts of New York and many of the golf world. He made the lower for the primary time, he performed with Justin Rose on Saturday, then, on Sunday, whereas paired with Rory McIlroy, Block dunked an ace on the 151-yard fifteenth gap that despatched the gallery right into a frenzy.
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Then on the ultimate gap, Block, 46, made an 8-footer to save par which put him right into a tie for fifteenth place. The top-15 gamers and ties earn a visit to subsequent yr’s PGA Championship at Valhalla in Kentucky. It was additionally the very best end for a PGA Professional since Lonnie Nielsen tied for eleventh place at Inverness Club in 1986.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet to be honest,” Block stated.
Brooks Koepka agrees.
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