American Brooks Koepka, as expected after his exceptional domination of the tournament since its inception, won his second consecutive PGA Championship, his fourth Grand Slam title, two strokes ahead of compatriot Dustin Johnson.
Nevertheless, Koepka, who had a seven-stroke lead the day before, did not have a smooth ride and saw his lead dwindle to two in the final round after four straight bogeys on the front nine and a fifth on the 17th hole.
In third place were Jordan Spieth, Patrick Clantly and Matt Wallace.
Koepka shot a final round 74 (+4) on a windy day at Bethpage Black Club to finish the 72 holes at 272 strokes (-8) and beat Johnson by two strokes.
“I’m glad we don’t have any more holes to play,” Koepka said. “It’s been a stressful round of golf. I’m thrilled to get my hands on this trophy again.”
This Sunday he joined Tiger Woods as the only two to win the PGA Championship twice in a row, as Woods did it in 2006-2007 and 1999-2000. This was the second successful defense of a major, as Koepka did with the U.S. Open in 2018 No one in the history of golf had ever made two successful defenses of a major at the same time. As an added reward, Koepka snatches the world No. 1 ranking from Dustin Johnson.
Koepka will be looking for his third consecutive major victory at the US Openn next month at Pebble Beach.
Johnson, who shot 69 (-1) in the final round, and was seeking his second major after the 2016 U.S. Open, was hoping to match the best final-round winning comeback in PGA history, John Mahaffey’s seven-stroke rally in 1978.
Rafa Cabrera Bello, the only Spaniard to complete the tournament, finished in 71st place with 292 (+12) strokes.
Missing the cut on the second day were Tiger Woods, who had high expectations after his 15th Grand Slam title last month at the Augusta Masters, Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, Adrian Otaegui, and Jorge Campillo.
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