Brooks Koepka joins major championship elite Cam Davis 4th
Brooks Koepka with major trophy number five – image PGA of America
If the greatness or otherwise of a professional golfer is measured by their record in major championships, then Brooks Koepka’s PGA Championship win at Oak Hill today adds to the already outstanding record he possessed in major championship golf and elevates the 33-year-old amongst the greats of the modern game.
Since 1990, only two other players have won as many major titles as Koepka, namely Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson so he now joins an elite and exclusive club.
Not only had Koepka won four previous majors in the period between 2017 and 2019 but he also has four runner-up finishes to his name at the elite level and but for injury issues his significant record could well have been considerably greater.
One of those runner-up finishes was at the Masters in April where he had also led into the final round before succumbing to a last round of 75 to finish in a share of second behind Jon Rahm.
So, after resolving to take a different attitude into today’s final round than was the case at the Masters where he was protecting his lead rather than attempting to build on it, he either led or shared the lead throughout.
While challenged by Viktor Hovland throughout he was able to take advantage of a Hovland mistake at the 16th and edged clear to win by two over Hovland and Scottie Scheffler, who was one of several players on day four to record a final round of 65.
“I just learned I knew what I did in Augusta,” said Koepka when asked what the difference was this time.
“I spent the whole night thinking about it. I knew what I did and I knew I was never going to come out and think that way again. Didn’t do that.
“I’ve always learned more from the four times I finished second than, I guess, the five times I’ve won now.
“I think failure is how you learn. You get better from it. You realize what mistakes you’ve made. Each time I’ve kind of made an adjustment. It’s more mentality than it is anything. It’s not really golf swing or anything like that.
“You’re going to play how you play, but mentally you can kind of figure things out, and I’m always trying to get better. Just trying to find that different little edge just to poke and try inside my head.
“Really, I think the big key is just being open and honest with yourself, and if you can do that, you’ll be miles ahead of everybody else.
“I felt in control all day. I felt — to be honest with you, probably the one that was settling — what’s the par 5, making the birdie there, I felt like that was a good putt. The other ones were three, four feet. But I think making that 7-footer (at the 4th) just helped build some momentum early.
When asked how this week’s victory rates Brooks thought about it and responded. “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.”
Cam Davis – brilliant weekend earns him a share of 4th – image PGA of America
Another to record a final round of 65 was Australian Cameron Davis who until this week had played in four major championships with a best of 39th at the 2018 Open Championship, a start in which had come as a result of his winning the 2017 Australian Open.
Today, Davis’ round of 65 moved him from a share of 16th overnight to a three-way tie for 4th and a huge cheque for US$720,000. By finishing inside the top four, Davis will also earn an automatic start at the Masters in 2024, his second appearance in the event after a debut in 2022.
After a bogey at the first, Davis was near flawless from there, adding four birdies and an eagle, the eagle coming after a magnificent tee shot to the driveable par 4 14th and holing a ten foot putt.
“Honestly, felt like I played the same as today all the way through the week,” said Davis. “Didn’t quite keep the momentum going and kept on stumbling right at the finish. Felt like I was under par coming down the last three holes every day and really struggled to get over the finish line.
“But today was nice, especially 17. That one has been really bugging me, and I finally hit a good drive and followed it up with two more good shots. You know, would have been really nice to make that last putt, just have it drop over the front instead of finish up short.”
Understandably, Davis was delighted with such a performance and realises just what this will mean for his ongoing career, especially in the majors.
“To build off this one going into the other majors, every time you have a really good round under tough conditions, it’s just another little positive voice in the back of your head that, yeah, I can do this even when it’s difficult, even when the rough is really deep and the pins are tight and firming up quick and you can still play really good golf and make a score especially toward the end of a major.
“That’s where I want to be. I’d love to win one or more of these for sure. You know, this is just one more step towards that goal for me.
“Yeah, a lot of positive stuff.”
Also recording a round of 65 was Cameron Smith who after a slow start to the event put together weekend rounds of 70 and 65 to finish in a share of 9th.
“Yeah, it’s starting to feel really nice,” said Smith referring to an ever improving game of late. “I think a little bit too much time off with the golf clubs probably has, I guess, kind of delayed how I wanted to start the year. Now it’s starting to feel really nice.
“I’m starting to feel confident with those irons, which when I’m playing good golf, that’s where I feel like I’m at. If I’m in the fairway and I have an iron in my hand, I really feel like I can be competitive out there, and that’s what I’m doing.”
Min Woo Lee tied for 18th after a final round of 71 but in addition to recording his second bast finish in a major he now has special temporary membership of the PGA Tour. He needed only to finish in a tie for 27th or better and so he has comfortably achieved that goal.
Ryan Fox also earned more then a good cheque this week as he too now has special temporary membership of the PGA Tour which suggests he will be playing more on that Tour over the coming months. The New Zealander tied for 23rd which represented his second best finish in 16 major championship starts.
Adam Scott ties for 29th after a final round of 69 and Lucas Herbert 40th.
