Brooks Koepka Wins Fourth Major With USPGA Championship Defence

Koepka won his fourth Major by two strokes at Bethpage Black

Brooks Koepka Wins Fourth Major With USPGA Championship Defence

Koepka won his fourth Major by two strokes at Bethpage Black

Brooks Koepka Wins Fourth Major With USPGA Championship Defence

Brooks Koepka completed his wire-to-wire victory at the USPGA Championship with a two stroke victory at Bethpage Black.

The American has now successfully defended both the US Open and USPGA to take his Major tally to four, equal with the likes of Rory McIlroy and Ernie Els.

We knew that Bethpage suited a bomber and after Koepka openly said that Majors are the easiest tournaments to win, the writing was probably on the wall.

The 29-year-old dominated from the first round with a 63 and was comfortably ahead all week until mid-way through the back nine on Sunday.

He began the final round with a seven stroke lead and his margin was six after a tap-in birdie at the 10th.

We all expected him to coast home.

However, holes 11-15 were nervy for him and he began to show his first real signs of weakness after a near-perfect display for the first three-and-a-half days.

He proceeded to make bogeys at 11, 12, 13 and 14, and that was while Dustin Johnson was having one of the rounds of the day in difficult conditions, getting within one after a birdie at 15.

Koepka survived a wobble on the back nine. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

However, DJ faltered with bogeys at 16 and 17, failing to walk through the door that was opening for him as he must have began to taste a second Major victory.

He played the last three holes in two over, when level par would have got him into a playoff.

The fiesty New York crowd were chanting 'DJ, DJ, DJ!' for both Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, who looked to be struggling.

Koepka managed to steady the ship with pars at 15 and 16 before a three-putt bogey at 17, although he was still two ahead on the 18th tee despite being four over for the round.

He pulled his drive left on 18 and pitched out onto the fairway before getting up and down to win the title.

Having survived what was a wobble on the back nine, Koepka showed emotion on the final green that we have never seen from him.

The Floridian was clearly struggling playing defensively when he is such an attacking player, and there must have been times where he could feel his grip on the Wanamaker Trophy weakening.

This victory will do an awful lot for him and what fans will think of him too, as we got to see him as not just a robotic bomber, but a human who overcame difficulty on that back nine to eventually seal the deal.

The winning putt -

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He eventually signed for a four over par 74 and a total of -8, two ahead of Dustin Johnson at -6.

Related: Brooks Koepka's 7 best quotes

The 29-year-old is now the World Number One again and it looks like he'll be holding on to that position for much longer this time after only spending nine weeks there so far in his career.

Koepka bullied the brutal Bethpage with 300+ yard drives straight down the middle of the fairway time and time again throughout the week, reducing long, tough par-4s to drives and short irons.

When he did find the rough, he had the strength to muscle it out onto greens or somewhere near them, and his short game and putting was as good as in his previous three Majors wins.

He said before the week that he doesn't see why he can't win double-digit Majors in his career... He's 40% of the way there already.

Related: Where is the USPGA Championship in 2020?

Dustin Johnson was 2nd alone at six under par, with Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay and Matt Wallace in third at three under.

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Elliott Heath
News Editor

Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!


Elliott is currently playing:


Driver: Titleist TSR4

3 wood: Titleist TSi2

Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1

Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW

Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5

Ball: Srixon Z Star XV