Brooks Koepka — “I’m back. I’m here.”

By Neville Idour

Brooks Koepka left no one in any doubt that he is back — and how.

No final round gremlins this time, like at The Masters where he should have won.

“At the Masters I went out in the final round playing not to lose and that was a mistake,’’ Koepka said after his win in the PGA Championship in New York. “I will never do that again. Today I played positively to win.”

Koepka’s win has lifted his world ranking to 13th which is hardly a reflection of where it should be.

After his unspectacular first round 72 at Oak Hill, he trailed the leaders by five shots. A second round 66 saw him in position to challenge the leaders, now three behind.

Another 66 in round three, with again just one bogey, saw him grab the lead with his game looking rock solid.

The final round had its moments as Victor Hovland again challenged for his first major championship win staying for the most part within one or two shots of Koepka.

Despite four bogeys Koepka’s seven birdies always kept him in front. Hovland’s double bogey on 16 ended any doubts of a Koepka win but a clutch putt from six or so feet secured his tie for second. Surely Hovland’s time will come.

Koepka received a warm response from the spectators, a relief after the insult on the second round first tee when paired with fellow LIV player Bryson De Chambeau which was a good watch (more on that elsewhere).

It was also noticeable that all of the dignitaries at the prizegiving were applauding and smiling heartily.

There were some wonderful moments and rounds on the final day. Scottie Scheffler, who was looking a likely winner on five under par after two rounds, killed his chances with a 73 third round. However that did not stop him storming home with 65 in the final round to grab a tie for second with Hovland. Australia’s two Camerons, Davis and Smith, matched that 65 with Davis finishing fourth and Smith ninth.

Let us not forget New Zealand’s Ryan Fox.

He produced another consistent effort with scores of 68, 73, 71 and 71 to finish 23rd and prizemoney of $US165,000. In New Zealand dollars, that’s $264,000.

It was a shame Fox bogeyed his final hole. However he comfortably gained his PGA Tour card for this year.

For fellow New Zealander, Steven

Alker, it was chalk and cheese. His first round 80 was uncharacteristic. But his fine second round 72 gave the lie to the course being too tough for him as a first round 72 would have had him comfortably inside the cut.

The shot of the tournament came from 46-year-old California club professional Michael Block who was paired with Rory McIlroy in the final round. His tee shot on the par three 15th had to be seen to be believed.

Block himself was in disbelief as the crowd went wild. The ball spiralled high and dropped unerringly into the hole for a stunning ace.

His four rounds of 70, 70, 70 and 71 were quite remarkable. There were 10 bogeys and three double bogeys to counteract which he did time and again with many surprising up and downs with clutch putts from difficult positions.

None were more remarkable than in the final round on No 18. Submerged in long rough some 20 metres away, well below the green, for his third shot and needing to get up and down for a critical 15th place, it did not look good. But he calmly got the ball high to finish at least six feet from the cup and calmly sunk the putt to wild jubilation from the crowd. He had booked his place in next year’s PGA Championship at Val-

Pga Championship Leaderboard And Prizemoney

halla in Kentucky.

It was also pleasing to see Bryson DeChambeau back close to his best. Clearly his loss of significant weight has been a game changer as he now looks lean and mean. His pleasant demeanour was always evident displaying his enjoyment of being involved in another major. His four rounds of 66, 71, 70 and 70 for tied fourth were rock solid and kept him in the mix. His new world ranking of 90 pays him no compliments as does Dustin Johnson’s 82nd.

As for the LIV contingent it appeared to again add quality golf to the event with three in the top 10, five in the top 20 and 11 made the cut. Once again proving the LIV format has not diminished the quality of their golf, in fact in many cases some feel it has improved it. All the questions about LIV players being has-beens or losing their game or rusty appear to have been consigned firmly in the rubbish bin.

We can now look forward to the United States Open in Los Angeles from June 15-18 and The Open in England from July 20-23 and hope the fields will be no less in quality than the first two majors. The outdated and incomplete world rankings may well decide that.