Brooks Koepka looked like he was going to take command of the PGA Championship after he made three consecutive birdies early in Sunday’s final round. Instead, his hot start set the stage for a dramatic duel that lasted much of the final round at Oak Hill Country Club.
Koepka, who began Sunday with a one-shot lead, pulled three ahead with birdies on Nos. 2-4. The first two came on 4-footers after he knocked approach shots stiff, and the third was from just 9 feet.
It looked like the Koepka of old, the one who won four majors from 2017-19 and seemed invincible in the game’s biggest events. But he had to hold off a determined Viktor Hovland to win his fifth major and third PGA Championship.
It wasn’t until a three-shot swing on the 16th hole that Koepka’s victory at Oak Hill seemed inevitable. That put him four shots ahead with two holes remaining. Koepka went on to win by two, shooting a final-round 67 to finish at 9-under 271. Hovland finished second, as did Scottie Scheffler.
“This is probably the sweetest one of them all because of the hard work that went into this one, this one is definitely special,” said Koepka, who battled injuries between this victory and the 2019 PGA Championship.
Hovland’s double-bogey on 16 came after he drove into a fairway bunker, then failed to get his second shot out of the sand trap. Koepka made birdie on that hole.
Hovland hung tough throughout the day, however, even when Koepka made his early move.
Hovland also birdied the fourth hole, then picked up a shot on Koepka on each of the next two holes. The first came when Hovland made a 17-foot birdie putt on the par-3 fifth. Then he saved par from a bunker on the long, par-4 sixth while Koepka drove into the hazard and made a bogey.
Hovland got up and down to save par on three of the front nine’s final four holes, displaying a short game that belied the standard scouting report for the Norwegian.
Hovland and Koepka each shot 34 on the front nine, allowing Koepka to keep his one-shot advantage. He started the back nine with two birdies and a bogey to take a two-shot lead but Hovland’s birdie at the par-5 13th put him back within one shot. Koepka had to make a 10-foot par putt on that hole just to maintain his lead.
After holing that 10-foot birdie putt at 13, Hovland made one from 8 feet to match Koepka’s birdie at the drivable 14th. Hovland was still just one back when they arrived at the 16th hole. Oak Hill became Koepka’s stage after that. He made amends for the Masters, where he lost a 54-hole lead to Jon Rahm.
“I just learned I knew what I did in Augusta. I spent the whole night thinking about it,” he said. “I knew what I did and I knew I was never going to come out and think that way again. Didn’t do that.”
PGA Championship Storylines
Standing in a fairway bunker on the par-4 16th, Victor Hovland looked down in shock. The young Norwegian had gone toe-to-toe with Koepka all day and was just one shot down.
But as he stood there, his hopes of winning his first major championship were all but lost. After his tee shot found the bunker, he attempted to hit a 9-iron out into safety. But the ball came out with a lower trajectory than intended and embedded into the wall of the rough right front of the bunker.
“Just didn’t get out of the bunker,” an exasperated Hovland said after the round.
Hovland was forced to punch out and failed to get up and down for bogey. The result: his first double bogey of the week. Meanwhile, Koepka stuck his approach to 5 feet and made the putt for birdie. From within one shot to down four with two holes to play.
It was a brutal blow in what was otherwise a near blemish-free round for the 25-year-old. Both Hovland and Koepka were 3-under for their rounds up to that point, with Hovland fresh off birdies on 13 and 14 to get within a shot.
It also seemed to be a material change for Hovland following his last two Sunday performances at majors. Hovland carded final-round 74s to shoot himself out of both the Open Championship and the Masters.
With three holes to play on