Mark SchlabachESPN Senior Writer3 minute reading
Koepka overtakes Hovland late for PGA Championship victory
Brooks Koepka capitalizes on a Viktor Hovland error to take home his third PGA Championship title.
But the three-time PGA Championship winner might as well have carried the LIV Golf League on his shoulders. Koepka’s 2-shot win over Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler was the first major championship win by a LIV Golf League player. Other members of the Saudi-funded circuit said it proved they belong in the majors.
“It confirms everything we’ve said from the beginning: That we compete at the highest level and we have the ability to win major championships,” said Bryson DeChambeau. “I really hope people can see the light now that we’re trying to bring something new and fresh to the game of golf. I think ultimately both sides are going to have to come together at some point. It’s for the good of the game.”
Koepka — who won his second LIV Golf League win in Orlando, Fla., in April and then finished second at the Masters the following week — didn’t seem too interested in talking about what his win could do for his new league.
“Yeah, I think it definitely helps LIV, but I’m more interested in myself right now, to be honest with you,” Koepka said. “Yeah, it’s a huge thing for LIV, but at the same time I’m out here competing as an individual at the PGA Championship. I’m just happy to take this home for the third time.”
Koepka was asked if he had heard from LIV Golf CEO and commissioner Greg Norman after winning another Wanamaker Trophy. Koepka said he had only spoken to his wife, Jena, who is pregnant with their first child, a boy.
Norman congratulated Koepka on Twitterwriting in part: “Congratulations @BKoepka your comeback has been impressive. I’m so proud of you. As for the @livgolf_league players they belong and the Majors and golf knows.”
LIV Golf had four other players finish in the top 20: DeChambeau tied for fourth at 3 under, Cameron Smith tied for ninth at 1 under and Patrick Reed and Mito Pereira tied for 18th at 2 over.
“We’re still out there,” said Smith, the reigning Open Championship winner. “We do not have that [forgotten] how to play golf. We’re all good golfers out there and we know what we can do and I think that’s what we’re trying to do.”
If nothing else, DeChambeau said, the performance of LIV Golf League players should put an end to the narrative that it is a league of aging and injured golfers who are no longer able to compete at a high level.
“Obviously, that’s untrue,” DeChambeau said. “I’ve always said the truth will come out eventually. The truth always plays its way and it is. We have a lot of good players out there and I think people need to start looking on the bright side of things. that we trying to do something good for the game.”
