Brooks Koepka is a polarizing figure. When he played on the PGA Tour, he seemed almost robot-like, winning four major championships and becoming the top player in golf, all while showing very little emotion. Then he got hurt, played poorly and jumped to LIV Golf, making him the villain to many.
Now he’s back—after nearly winning the Masters in April, Koepka showed he can elevate his game in the biggest moments, winning the PGA Championship with a final round of 67, better Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland by two shots.
“This is probably the sweetest one of them all because all the hard work that went into this one, this one is definitely special,” Koepka said, referring to his struggles to overcome injuries in recent years.
“This one is probably it for me.”
How Koepka Won
Steady all-around play. That’s how Koepka held off some of golf’s best– by rarely making any significant missteps. Though he opened at 2-over for the first round, from that point on, Koepka put his foot to the floor and elevated his golf game. The stats prove just how good he was during the week: eighth in strokes gained off the tee, second in strokes gained tee to green, and 13th in putting. It was a statistical recipe for success. Koepka said it, the success was a result of hard work off the course: “I thought all I had to do was be healthy,” he said. “That was just the only question mark. But you know, having an off-season to kind of just bust my butt and be in the gym every day, to working on things, doing different — doing different recovery, it’s been really good.”
What’s In The Bag
For quite a while, Koepka was an equipment free agent, playing whatever he wanted after Nike cut its golf division. While he now has an endorsement with Srixon, there’s still some gear that reflects his unusual approach, including a holdover from his Nike days.
Driver: Srixon ZX5 LS Mk II (10.5 degrees)
3-wood: TaylorMade M2 Tour HL (16.5 degrees)
Irons: Nike Vapor Pro (3), Srixon ZX7 Mk II (4 to 9)
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore Tour Rack Raw (46-10), RTX6 ZipCore Tour Rack (52, 56, 60-6)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Teryllium TNP2
Ball: Srixon Z-Star Diamond
Club Pro Captures The Hearts of the Crowd
Michael Block. Most people likely hadn’t heard of Block, who is 46 and has been Southern California Pro of the Year 10 times. He’s tried playing tour golf, but never had much success, though he did make four cuts. He works as a golf pro at a Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in California.
Block was one of the handful of club pros who qualified for the PGA Championship, and he made the most of it, shooting even par through three rounds to put himself in contention. He drove the ball like a tour star and putted like Tiger Woods in his prime.
MICHAEL. BLOCK. ACE. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/YitD2QLDB7
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 21, 2023
His ace on the 15th hole in the final round generated a huge roar from the Oak Hill crowd, and he made an incredible up-and-down from left of the 18th green to finish 15th, and get into next year’s PGA Championship.
But don’t worry – the success won’t go to his head. His wife is going to make sure of that.
“Stay down to earth? Have you met my wife?” Block asked in the press conference after round three.
“She will keep you down to earth more than anyone in the world. She’s an Argentinian-Italian fireball that will tell me everything you don’t want to hear, but yeah, she’ll keep me down to earth like you have no idea.”
Conners Stumbles In Final Round
Six Canadians were in the field at the PGA Championship this week, an impressive showing that demonstrates the strength of Canadian golf. Only four made the weekend—Adam Hadwin, Taylor Pendrith, Adam Svensson and top-ranked Corey Conners.
There was a lot of hope for Conners, who put together three strong rounds to sit in second-place heading into Sunday. He’s been in the hunt before, coming up short at The Masters and the British Open while entering the final round with a chance to take the title.
Conners had high hopes for Sunday as well, referencing Mike Weir’s 2003 Masters win. “Watching Mike Weir win the Masters in 2003 was huge, and it would mean a lot to me and I’m sure a lot to people across Canada,” he said. “I will be playing hard tomorrow, but I’m trying to have some fun out there.”
Conners is usually one of the best ball strikers in the world, but his strength disappeared during the final round, and the Listowel, Ont. native made four bogeys on the front nine and another four on the back, finishing in a tie for 12th.