Koepka holds off late Johnson charge to win PGA Championship
Credit to Author: Tempo Online| Date: Mon, 20 May 2019 04:30:54 +0000
Brooks Koepka held off a late charge from Dustin Johnson to capture his second consecutive PGA Championship on Sunday, completing a wire-to-wire victory for his fourth major title in nerve-wracking fashion.
A record seven-stroke lead for Koepka was reduced to a single shot, but he withstood making four bogeys in a row on the back nine and another at 17 for an unexpectedly narrow triumph.
Koepka fired a final-round four-over par 74 at windy Bethpage Black to finish 72 holes on eight-under 272 and defeat Johnson by two strokes, replacing him as world number one as a result.
Brooks Koepka of the United States poses with the Wanamaker Trophy during the Trophy Presentation Ceremony after winning the final round of the 2019 PGA Championship at the Bethpage Black course. (Warren Little/Getty Images/AFP)
Bogeys by Johnson at 16 and 17 made the difference before Koepka escaped sand and weeds off the 18th tee by finding the fairway and green then sinking a six-foot putt for the victory.
Koepka, who seeks his third US Open win in a row next month at Pebble Beach, became the first man to own back-to-back titles at two majors simultaneously by capturing the Wanamaker Trophy and the $1.98 million (1.77 million euro) top prize.
The 29-year-old American became the PGA’s fifth wire-to-wire winner after Hal Sutton in 1983, Ray Floyd in 1982, Jack Nicklaus in 1971 and Bobby Nichols in 1964. (Agence France-Presse)