US PGA Championship: Brooks Koepka’s major statement at Bellerive

Brooks Koepka followed up his victory at the US Open in June by winning the US PGA Championship at the Bellerive Country Club in St Louis last night.

The American, who is ranked No.4 in the world, hit a four-under 66 in his final round to beat his nearest rival Tiger Woods by two shots. Australia’s Adam Scott finished three behind on 11-under.

The crowds were hoping to see Woods win a 15th career major, but despite his lowest ever round in a major Koepka recorded birdies on the 15th and 16th holes to secure a memorable win in Missouri.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

After his win at the US Open and now at the US PGA, it’s a superb turnaround for Koepka who injured his wrist earlier this year.

After winning his third career major, he told europeantour.com: “When I look at what I’ve done in the past two months, it’s incredible.

“Looking where I was, sitting on my couch watching the Masters... I would have laughed at you and told you there was no way, no chance, and to do it is really incredible. I think sitting on the couch made me really appreciate how much I actually love this game and love competition.

“I think, other than me, my team, everybody was rooting for Tiger, as they should. He’s the greatest player to ever play the game and to have the comeback that he’s having is incredible.

“I’m excited for the next few years. Tiger’s come back. You look at what Dustin’s [Johnson] doing, Justin [Thomas], Rory [McIlroy], [Jordan] Spieth, it’s a great time to be a golf fan. I can’t wait to duel it out with them over the next couple years or next however long.”

US PGA Championship final standings

• 1. Brooks Koepka (USA) -16
• 2. Tiger Woods (USA) -14
• 3. Adam Scott (Australia) -13
• T4. Stewart Cink (USA) -11
• T4. Jon Rahm (Spain) -11
• T6. Thomas Pieters (Belgium) -10
• T6. Francesco Molinari (Italy) -10
• T6. Justin Thomas (USA) -10
• T6. Gary Woodland (USA) -10