Brooks Koepka of West Palm Beach, Florida made golf history on Sunday by becoming the first golfer ever as an active member of the LIV Tour to win a major championship.
On Sunday, Koepka shot a score of three-under-par 67 to finish at -9 to win the 2023 PGA Championship. That was good enough to be two strokes better than runner-ups Scottie Scheffler of the United States and Viktor Hovland of Norway. With the second place finish on Sunday, and the fact that Spain’s Jon Rahm was 50th, Scheffler returns to number one in the world according to Colin Lynch of The Sports Daily.
Sunday was all about Koepka, who moved up 31 places in the Official World Golf Rankings from 44th to 13th. This was his second solid showing at a major this year. Koepka previously finished second at the Masters last month in losing to Rahm.
Koepka began the 2023 PGA Championship with a first round score of two over par. He regrouped with scores of four-under-par 66 in rounds two and three. In fact after 54 holes, Koepka was the leader at -6, and had a one stroke lead over Hovland and Canadian Corey Conners.
In the final round, Koepka picked up a stroke on Hovland, and held off Scheffler, who put together a fourth round score of five-under-par. On Sunday, Koepka had seven birdies and four bogeys. He birdied the second, third, fourth, 10th, 12th, 14th, and 16th holes, and bogeyed the sixth, seventh, 11th, and 17th holes. This was Koepka’s fifth career major title as he previously won the 2017 and 2018 United States Open, and the 2018 and 2019 PGA Championship.
There was one more great story from Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York on Sunday. That was the performance of PGA professional Michael Block. The golf teacher from Mission Viejo, California finished in 15th place at +1, and got a hole in one on the 15th hole. By finishing in the top 15, he automatically qualified for the 2024 PGA Championship.
