‘Major Hunter’ Brooks Koepka (33, USA) won his third PGA Championship and became a player in the LIV Golf League sponsored by Saudi Arabia. reached the top of a major tournament for the first time.
Koepka tied 7 birdies and 4 bogeys in the final 4th round of the PGA Championship (total prize money of 17.5 million dollars) held at Oak Hill Country Club (par 70, 7,380 yards) in Rochester, New York on the 22nd (Korean time) He shot a 3-under 67.
With a final total of 9 under par, 271 strokes, Koepka won the championship by two strokes over Viktor Hovlan (Norway) and Scotty Scheffler (USA, 7 under par, 273 strokes), who were tied for second place. The winning prize is 3.15 million dollars (approximately 4.18 billion won).
With this win, Koepka harvested his ninth victory on the PGA Tour. It has been two years and three months since Koepka, who transferred to LIV Golf in June of last year, has won a PGA Tour event since the Phoenix Open in February 2021.
In particular, Koepka won 5 wins in major competitions alone, and among them, he won 3 wins (2018, 2019, 2023) at the PGA Championship, reaffirming his strong side. Her other two major wins were at the 2017 and 2018 US Open.
“Five or more wins in major competitions” is a record held by only 20 players, including Koepka.
Koepka’s victory is also the first time that a player from LIV Golf, which was launched last year, won a major tournament.
Since the launch of LIV Golf, it has never won the previous three major tournaments while revealing a confrontational angle with the PGA Tour, but Koepka became the first protagonist by reviving the aspect of a ‘major hunter’.
Koepka’s victory left a symbolic scene in which a player from LIV lifts the Wanamaker Trophy of the PGA Championship, a famous golf major championship trophy, along with the Claret Jug awarded to The Open champion.
Koepka, who entered the final round in the same group as Hoblan with a lead by one stroke, showed his will to shake off the disappointment of last month’s runner-up in the Masters by boosting his momentum with consecutive birdies on the first two to four holes.
However, consecutive bogeys on holes 6 and 7 only reduced one stroke in the first half, and Hobland also reduced one stroke in the first half, continuing Koepka’s lead by one stroke.
Koepka dropped a birdie putt of about 3m on the 12th hole (par 4) and opened it by two strokes, but in the next hole (par 5) Hoblan responded with a birdie and the close match continued.
Koepka faced a crisis when he failed to put his third shot on the green in the 13th hole and the next shot passed the hole about 3m, but it was difficult to keep the par and maintain the lead.
In addition, Scotty Scheffler (USA), who played in front of the two groups, reduced 4 strokes to the 14th hole (par 4) and caught up with Koepka by two strokes, making it difficult to predict the direction of the championship.스포츠토토
However, Koepka and Hoblan made birdies side by side on the 14th hole, and in fact narrowed it down to a two-part match, and Koepka hit a wedge on the 16th hole (par 4).
Hoblan struggled after dropping his tee shot into a bunker, but on the fourth shot he put the ball on the green and wrote down a double bogey. Hardened.
Hoblan had to be content with finishing with a birdie on the last 18th hole (par 4) to tie for second place with Scheffler.
LIV’s Bryson DeChambeau (USA) tied for 4th place (3 under par 277) with Cam Davis (Australia) and Kurt Kitayama (USA), and Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) tied for 7th place (2 under par 278). other) is finished.
Patrick Cantlay (USA) tied for 9th place (1 under par 279 strokes) with Cameron Smith (Australia), who plays in the LIV League.
Michael Block (USA), a club pro who is not a tour player, will be able to participate in next year’s PGA Championship thanks to the good performance of being tied for 15th place (1 over par, 281 strokes).
Block, who participated in this tournament through the participation ticket distributed to club pros in the United States, played with McIlroy in the final round, and in the 15th hole (par 3, 151 yards), the 7-iron tee shot was sucked into the hole as it was, making a double slope. enjoyed
Lee Min-woo (Australia) tied for 18th (2 over par, 282 strokes), and Justin Seo (USA) tied for 26th (4 over par, 284 strokes).
Lee Gyeong-hoon, the only Korean player to pass the cut, tied for 29th place (5 over par, 285 strokes) by reducing one stroke by tying 4 birdies and 3 bogeys.