Brooks Koepka landed the US PGA Championship on Sunday to seal a fifth major championship. The American, whose fourth title came four years ago, was inspired at Oak Hill Country Club, winning by two shots from Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler. Here are our main talking points from the season’s second major.
Five majors move Koepka into whole new bracket
Brooks Koepka’s peerless performance around Oak Hill not only proved he is back, but it hoisted him among golf’s historical elite. The former world No 1 now owns five major titles, separating him from Ernie Els, Raymond Floyd, Rory McIlroy et al. In fact, only Tiger Woods (15) and Phil Mickelson (six) have more among active players.
Five majors feel a totally different category – only 20 golfers have done it – especially when considering Koepka’s quintet were captured since 2017, as top-level professional golf becomes ever more competitive.
Perhaps most impressively, Koepka conceded that only last year he was questioning his future, such were the severity of his injuries. Now competing on LIV Golf, the American hinted he was returning to former form with his runner-up at last month’s Masters, although doubts did surface regarding Koepka’s enduring big-time credentials.
Typically defiant, he came into last week declaring he would not make the same mistakes as Sunday at Augusta. So, little wonder Koepka labelled major No 5 “probably the sweetest of them all”. Still only 33, there could well be more to come.
Hovland doubles down on major promise
OK, so Viktor Hovland did not get the job done this week, adding to other major championships where he flirted with finally breaking through (see last month’s Masters, where Hovland seemed set for a Sunday charge only to post 74 and come home tied-7th).
But on Sunday, the Norwegian provided his best showing under the brightest lights. Hovland, 25, kept Koepka within touching distance for the majority, his often-derided short game coming up strong time and again, only for the fairway bunker on 16 to effectively put pay to his chances.
Having sent his second shot straight into the lip, Hovland took a difficult drop and made double-bogey. With Koepka clinching one of the birdies of the day at the very same hole, the challenger's race was run.
Understandably, Hovland’s typically accepting nature deserted him post-round, when he seemed pretty disconsolate. But, although this will sting, he will eventually take the positives. It felt, maybe really in the first instance, that Hovland’s time will come – most probably sooner rather than later.
All in on the Block party
As weeks go - Koepka aside - they don’t come much sweeter than this. Michael Block, one of 20 PGA club professionals who qualified for the event, came into his fifth PGA Championship seeking simply to make the cut for the first time. He checked that off the bucket list.
Then he played with Justin Rose on Saturday, McIlroy on Sunday, showed incredible grit and gumption with a phenomenal up-and-down on the last to finish in the top 15 on the number, earning a place in next year’s tournament. The performance banked Block, who charges $125 for teaching lessons back at his home club, a cool $288,333.
But the best bit? The slam-dunk, hole-in-one on 15 on Sunday that elicited the loudest cheer of the week and prompted a warm embrace from McIlroy. And Block, 46, later found out he snaffled an invite to this week’s PGA Tour stop: the Crowne Plaza Invitational. All in all, a genuinely fairy-tale four days.
McIlroy must eliminate costly errors to add to major haul
Another major, another one to pass by McIlroy. Of course, the T7 at Oak Hill is another high finish, and it represents a huge improvement on the four-time major champion's past three stroke-play events: missed cuts at Augusta and The Players, and T47 last time out at Quail Hollow. And to be fair, McIlroy admitted he was fighting his swing significantly all tournament, so it wasn’t a woeful week’s work.
Yet his Achilles heel struck at the weekend: needing to make a move, especially Sunday, McIlroy put his foot on the accelerator, but threw in too many mistakes – infuriatingly usually right after he appeared to be gaining momentum.
The silver lining is McIlroy’s game is most certainly better than it has been recently. However, it will need to improve considerably should he finally break his major drought, which has stretched into its 10th year. The Open at Hoylake in July, the scene of his 2014 Claret Jug success, looks an obvious opportunity - even beyond next month’s US Open.
Win for LIV offers intriguing Ryder Cup connotations
Post-victory, Koepka was somewhat cajoled into stressing what it signified in relation to golf’s bigger picture. Bryson DeChambeau, true to form, went a little further, saying “it validates everything we've said from the beginning: that we're competing at the highest level and we have the ability to win major championships”.
DeChambeau, of course, was talking about LIV Golf, the breakaway tour that has fractured the pro game. Sunday marked the first major victory for a LIV member, but in truth it did not feel particularly momentous for that.
What Koepka’s win did, though, is deepen the debate as to whether LIV golfers should be allowed to compete at this year’s Ryder Cup. The new champion sits second on the United States points list.
US captain Zach Johnson was coy on the LIV-Ryder Cup subject all week, but surely Koepka at least ranks among the 12 best Americans at present and thus deserves to make the team. DeChambeau, who excelled at Oak Hill to finish T4, will hope he will too, come September.
