Brooks Koepka – the 33-year-old big-game wizard, notched his fifth career major championship title, and third Wanamaker trophy, at the PGA Championship on Sunday, successfully transmuting a one-shot 54-hole advantage into a two-stroke victory at a raucous Oak Hill Country Club.
Seemingly impervious to pressure, Koepka was his vintage self for much of Sunday, particularly early on when he exploded for three birdies out of the gate (Nos. 2, 3 and 4) to pull ahead of Viktor Hovland (68) by three shots.
Back-to-back bogeys on 6 and 7, though, slowed down Koepka’s coronation. The lead pair were separated by just a shot at the turn. It remained a one-shot game until the 16th hole when Hovland drove his tee ball into a fairway bunker and tragically proceeded to hit his second into the bunker’s face, resulting in a double bogey. Smelling blood, Koepka made birdie, extending his lead to four.
A somewhat meaningless bogey on 17 dropped Koepka back to 9 under, and with Scottie Scheffler (65) in the clubhouse on 7-under and Hovland on -6, a bogey or better was the goal. He played it one better, tapping in for par to finish 9 under.
“To look back to where we were two years ago, I’m so happy right now,” Koepka said. “This is just the coolest thing.”
With the historic major victory, the Florida State product becomes the 20th player in the history of golf to record five or more major wins. In fact, there are just 14 golfers who’ve won more majors. Koepka also became just the third player in the stroke-play era of the PGA (starting in 1958) to win three or more Wanamaker Trophies, joining Jack Nicklaus (5) and Tiger Woods (4). Walter Hagen (5), Sam Snead (3) and Gene Sarazen (3) won their PGAs during the match play era.
PGA Championship: Top 10
Pos-Player-Score (Final Rd)
1. Brooks Koepka -9 (-3)
2. Scottie Scheffler -7 (-5)
2. Viktor Hovland -7 (-2)
4. Bryson DeChambeau -3 (E)
4. Kurt Kitayama -3 (-5)
4. Cam Davis -3 (-5)
7. Rory McIlroy -2 (-1)
7. Sepp Straka -2 (-5)
9. Justin Rose -1 (+1)
9. Patrick Cantlay -1 (-4)
9. Cam Smith -1 (-5)
Winning Pro-File
Full Name: Brooks Koepka
Nationality American
Height: 6′ 0″
Weight: 205 lb
Birthdate: May 3 (age 33)
Native: West Palm Beach, Florida
Residence: Jupiter, Florida
College: Florida State University
Turned Pro: 2012
Current Tour: LIV Golf
Family: Married, Jena Sims
Koepka’s Winning Numbers
Topline Stats
Driving: 318.9 yards (5th)
Fairways: 31/56, 57.14% (T6)
Greens: 45/72, 61.11% (T25)
Putting Avg: 1.636 (2nd)
Putts/Rd: 26.00 (1st)
Scoring
Rounds: 72, 66, 66, 67
Scoring Avg: 68.00
Par-3 Scoring: E
Par-4 Scoring: -6
Par-5 Scoring: -3
Scores: 18 Birdies, 45 Pars, 9 Bogeys
Koepka’s Career Victories
Major Championships: 5
2023 PGA Championship
2019 PGA Championship
2018 PGA Championship
2018 U.S. Open
2017 U.S. Open
LIV Golf League: 2
LIV Golf Inv Jeddah
LIV Golf Orlando
PGA Tour: 4
2021 WM Phoenix Open
2019 WGC-FedEx St Jude Inv
2018 CJ Cup
2015 WM Phoenix Open
European Tour: 1
2014 Turkish Airlines Open
Japan Tour: 2
2017 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament
2016 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament
3 Questions
Q: Five majors, three PGAs, given all you went through and the rehab and the doubts, is this as sweet as any?
BROOKS KOEPKA: 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.
Q: Obviously the first-ever and will always be the first-ever representative from the LIV Tour to win a major. Is there any pride with that? Obviously you’re playing individually, but is there any pride as a representative of the organization?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I think so. Look at it, I think I was the first guy to win two LIV events. To win a major is always a big deal no matter where you’re playing.
All it does, I just think, I guess, validates it for myself. I guess maybe if anybody doubted it from Augusta or whatever, any doubts anybody on TV might have or whatever, I’m back, I’m here.
Q: You seemed to get a little emotional as you were walking from the 18th green to the scoring tent. Was that relief? Was that suddenly realizing what you had accomplished? Just curious?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I think it was definitely what I accomplished. Pardon my language, but it’s all the f#cking shit I had to go through. No one knows. No one knows, I think, all the pain. There’s a lot of times where I just couldn’t even bend my knee.
Yeah, it felt good. It felt really good.
Koepka’s Winning Highlights
Watch Brooks Koepka’s Round 4 winning highlights at the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club.
