Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
Brooks Koepka captured his fourth major title Sunday by winning the 101st PGA Championship at Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, New York—making him the tournament’s back-to-back champion.
PGA TOUR @PGATOUR
Back-to-back.
Wire-to-wire.Congratulations, @BKoepka!
He’s defended his PGA Championship title.
#LiveUnderPar https://t.co/EgviBhdFNH
Koepka entered Sunday’s final round at 12 under par—good for a seven-shot lead—and finished the day having shot four over to put his tournament score at eight under.
However, the 29-year-old was given a slight scare by runner-up Dustin Johnson on the back nine. Following four consecutive bogeys from Koepka that dropped his overall score to nine under, Johnson cut the lead to one stroke heading into the 17th hole.
No PGA Tour player has ever lost a seven-shot lead after 54 holes, according to the PGA Tour.
Koepka was able to avoid making the wrong kind of history by staving off Johnson, who suffered back-to-back bogeys on 16 and 17, to claim what appeared to be rightfully his all weekend long. Johnson finished the round at one under on the day and six under for the tournament.
With the victory, Koepka moves to No. 1 in the official World Golf Ranking. The top rating is fitting for a player who has won four majors in eight starts and just became the first back-to-back PGA champion since 2006-07 Tiger Woods.
Below is a look at how the results rounded out behind Koepka:
1. Brooks Koepka (-8), $1,980,000
2. Dustin Johnson (-6), $1,188,000
T3. Jordan Spieth (-2), $575,500
T3. Patrick Cantlay (-2), $575,500
T3. Matt Wallace (-2), $575,500
6. Luke List (-1), $380,000
7. Sung Kang (E), $343,650
T8. Gary Woodland (+1), $264,395
T8. Matt Kuchar (+1), $264,395
T8. Rory McIlroy (+1), $264,395
To see the full leaderboard, click over to the tournament’s official website. To see the full payout list, head to ESPN.
On Saturday, List said on the CBS broadcast (h/t SB Nation’s Brendan Porath) that everybody behind Koepka was “pretty much playing for second, and it seems like that hasn’t been said since Tiger back in his heyday.”
Koepka continued to align with Woods by winning Sunday, as Jim Nantz relayed on the CBS broadcast the players since 1934 who have won four majors in less than two years: Woods, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.
PGA TOUR @PGATOUR
By the Numbers:
• 4 wins in last 8 major starts
• 1st to defend PGA Championship and U.S. Open
• 5th wire-to-wire PGA Championship winner
• Most leads/co-leads after any round in majors since 2016
• 11th to win 4 majors before age 30
• 2nd in #FedExCup
• 1st in OWGR https://t.co/kYrQgJxYgS
While these accolades will be what is remembered from the 101st PGA Championship, Koepka nearly blew it. At one point, he was at -10000 (bet $10,000 to win $100) to win the tournament but saw those odds plummet to -300 as Johnson mounted his comeback. For four holes, the tournament squeezed in all the drama that was lacking for the first three rounds.
That said, there were other highlights on the green away from Koepka’s triumph. For one, Spieth’s third-place finish is his best in 2019.
Scott Bell @ScottBellDMN
This will be Spieth’s ninth top-5 finish in a major in 25 career starts as a professional. The @PGAChampionship remains the only major title that has alluded him. This will be his second-best finish in seven career #PGAChampionship starts (2nd place, 2015).
Jason Sobel @JasonSobelTAN
Jordan Spieth made 394 feet of putts this week, No. 1 in strokes gained putting.
A name not among the top finishers is Lucas Bjerregaard, who used to the 17th hole to drain just the 42nd hole-in-one in PGA Tour history since 1970, according to the Associated Press.
Bleacher Report @BleacherReport
Lucas Bjerregaard.
Hole in one. WOW.
#PGAChamp https://t.co/zd03dz4a8y
Overall, players maneuvered the notoriously difficult Bethpage Black to give fans plenty to process between now and June’s U.S. Open.
from Update News Topic http://bit.ly/2Wfl2Qm
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