Koepka heads off a prowling Tiger hunt
Print Edition
Over an ear-splitting afternoon in which most of the cheers weren’t for him, Brooks Koepka got a taste of what golf feels like when Tiger Woods is in the hunt.
And in his exhilarating but ultimately futile attempt to catch Koepka at the PGA Championship, Woods got a taste of what it’s going to take to get back on top in the majors.
Woods provided the thrills, a fist-pumping, club-slamming, roller-coaster ride of a final round in which he threatened from beginning to end but couldn’t knock Koepka out of the lead, or deny him the trophy. Koepka heard the commotion in front of him all day‚
“You could hear a different roar like every 30 seconds, so we knew what was going on,” he said. But did what he does best at the majors: He put on a calm, collected show of precision golf to hold off Woods by two shots and become only the fifth person to win a US Open and PGA Championship in the same year.
When it was over, Woods had a warm hug and a huge smile for the guy he calls “Brooksy.”
“It’s tough to beat when the guy hits it 340 down the middle,” Woods said. “When a guy’s doing that and hitting it straight, and as good a putter as he is, it’s tough to beat.”
Koepka set the PGA Championship record with a four-day score of 16-under 264. His best shot over a final round of 4-under 66 was a lasered 4-iron to the 16th green that landed 6 feet away for a birdie and a two-shot cushion that allowed him to coast into the finish, much the way he did at Shinnecock earlier this summer, and in last year’s US Open.
Koepka joins Jordan Spieth, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Woods as the only players since World War II with three majors before turning 30.
Getting the best of Koepka sets up as a daunting challenge for Woods, though the 42-year-old, 14-time major winner could easily argue he’s been through worse. He’s had multiple back surgeries, and as recently as 11 months ago, wasn’t able to swing a golf club.
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