All those injuries that made Brooks Koepka wonder if he was still among golf's elite were put to rest when he beat the strongest field of the year and won the PGA Championship for his fifth major title.
Determined as ever to restore his reputation as the player to beat in the majors, Koepka ran off three quick birdies early, never lost the lead to close with a 3-under 67 for a two-shot victory.
He won his third Wanamaker Trophy — only Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen with five and Tiger Woods with four have won the PGA Championship more — and captured his first major in four years.
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He is the first LIV Golf star to win a major.
Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler, who closed with a 65 and returned to No.1 in the world, finished in a tie for second.
"To look back to where we were two years ago, I'm so happy right now," Koepka said. "This is just the coolest thing."
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Koepka had to share the loudest cheers with California club pro Michael Block, who put on an amazing show over four days. Block made a slam dunk hole-in-one on the 15th hole while playing with Rory McIlroy, and then made two tough par putts at the end for a fourth straight 70.
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He tied for 15th, giving him a return date to the PGA Championship last year.
"The most surreal moment I've ever had in my life," Block said. "I'm living a dream and making sure I'm enjoying the moment. Not getting any better than this — no way in hell."
The fifth major for Koepka might have been the sweetest of all considering the scrutiny of pedestrian play brought on by injuries and his decision to join LIV Golf, where he has won two times.
A month ago at the Masters, Koepka lost a two-shot lead in the final round by playing tentatively and was overrun by Jon Rahm. He vowed he would not do that again, and Koepka delivered in a major way, just like he used to.
Hovland made it easy for him at the end. Koepka was one shot ahead on the 16th hole when Hovland hit his 9-iron from a bunker that plugged into the lip in front of him — the same shot that stopped Corey Conners a day earlier — and made double bogey.
Koepka gouged out a shot from the rough to a little over a metre for birdie and suddenly was leading by four shots when Hovland made double bogey.
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