Welcome to the coronation of Brooks Koepka. The 29-year-old American completed a stellar effort at Bethpage Black on Sunday, winning the 2019 PGA Championship in wire-to-wire fashion -- the first to do so since 1983 -- by ending every round as the clubhouse leader. The defending champion at the event, Koepka won his second straight PGA Championship and becomes the first golfer in history to hold consecutive titles at two different major championships simultaneously, the other being the U.S. Open.
That is not to say Koepka's win was as easy as it looked like it was going to be entering Sunday's final round. Koepka led all of his challengers by seven strokes entering Round 4, something that had happened nine other times after 54 holes in a major since 1900. Those nine all went on to victory, as did Koepka eventually, but the champion saw his lead shrink to as little as a single stroke down the stretch following four straight bogeys on holes 11-14.
Dustin Johnson was hot on Koepka's heels but simply unable to get the job done over the final few holes, finishing 6 under after posting a 69 on Sunday. Koepka shot a 4-over 74 to finish 8 under for the tournament, playing his first major championship round over par since the 2018 Open.
"I'm just glad we didn't have to play any more holes. That was a stressful round of golf," Koepka told CBS after his victory. "The wind was up. DJ played awesome. Congrats to him. He put the pressure on, but I'm glad to have this thing back in my hands."
Let's see how the leaderboard looked at the conclusion of the 101st PGA Championship.
1. Brooks Koepka (-8): This was a great championship to back up the argument that Sundays, and the weekends, are overrated. Koepka was 16 strokes worse on Saturday and Sunday than on Thursday and Friday, following up his record-setting 128 on the first 36 holes with a 144 on the final 36. There were some gutsy pars and big-time approach shots on Sunday that made for good highlights as Bethpage Black delivered its blows to Kopeka and the rest of the field.
2. Dustin Johnson (-6): After starting the day seven strokes off the lead, DJ will hopefully take some positives out of the work to trim the lead to just one on the back nine and put some pressure on Koepka. He had one of the best rounds of the late afternoon groups, but he fell a few bogeys short coming down the stretch.
T3. Jordan Spieth (-2): This is Spieth's first top-10 finish in 10 months (2018 Open Championship) and first top-20 finish of the season. He's been working hard to get his game back in shape, and the grind of Bethpage seemed to fit his style. You had to be a survivor to avoid too many bogeys and that's exactly where Spieth's head has been. It will be interesting to see how he backs up this performance next month at the U.S. Open.
T3. Patrick Cantlay (-2): The 27-year-old has been in a different place since mid-2018. Cantlay always had the pedigree, but the game has been clicking at majors -- T12 at The Open, T9 at the Masters and three top-10s in WGCs prior to this top-five finish at Bethpage.
T3. Matt Wallace (-2): His prior major experience includes four missed cuts and a T19 at last year's PGA Championship, so this has clearly been a career-changing week for Wallace. At just 29, he was recently promoted to the European Tour in the last three years and could be a factor in these championships moving forward.
6. Luke List (-1): The wounds are there on the scorecard for List. After three straight rounds under par, List had five bogeys and a double-bogey during his tough round of 74 on Sunday afternoon. List has been a pro for a while, but this finish is yet another bit of evidence to better play thats come around for him since the start of the 2017 season.
7. Sung Kang (E): A winner last week at the AT&T Byron Nelson, Kang now has his best-ever finish in a major championship in his sixth major start. Kang matched the tournament record with a 23-under 261 total at Trinity Forest and kept that form going this week with good play on and around the green.
T8. Gary Woodland, Matt Kuchar, Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Erik Van Rooyen, Adam Scott (+1): Rory McIlroy logs his ninth top-10 of the season here thanks to a pair of 69s on the weekend. McIlroy, Lowry, Kuchar and Woodland all made jumps of 18 spots or more up the leaderboard to snag this top-10 designation thanks in part to the late afternoon groups posting big numbers.
CBS Sports was with you the entire way Sunday updating this story with the latest scores, analysis and highlights from Round 4 of the 101st PGA Championship. If you are unable to view the updates below, please click here.
Thanks for stopping by.
https://www.cbssports.com/golf/news/2019-pga-championship-leaderboard-scores-brooks-koepka-makes-history-in-wire-to-wire-win/
2019-05-19 22:54:00Z
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