Brooks Koepka Wins PGA Championship at Oak Hill
Brooks Koepka captured his third PGA Championship title and fifth major championship by winning the 105th PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY.
"I'm just so happy right now, I'm kind of at a loss for words. This is just the coolest thing."
Brooks Koepka joins rare company with his 5th major. pic.twitter.com/pGsyCfhZJJ
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) May 21, 2023
Koepka’s 3-under 67 final round put him at 9-under, two shots ahead of Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland.
Koepka won his first four majors in a 23-month span but after four years of battling injuries, this was his first major title since 2019.
“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. “This one is probably it for me.”
Scheffler was one of five players to record tournament-low round of 65 (all coming in today’s final round) to get within striking distance of the Wannamaker Trophy.
“I gave the guys on top of the leaderboard something to think about, and I kind of made a little bit much a move,” Scheffler said. “But Brooks just played some fantastic golf this week. He played too good this weekend for me to catch up to him.”
Scheffler moved ahead of Jon Rahm into the No. 1 spot in the world rankings with his runner-up finish.
Back on top.
With a runner-up finish @PGAChampionship, Scottie Scheffler returns to World No. 1.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 22, 2023
The talk of the week revolved around Michael Block, the 46-year-old club pro who teaches golf lessons at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California and his storybook-esque journey that began with him being the only one of the 20 PGA Head Professional’s to make the cut and ended with an epic up-and-down on No. 18 to ensure a top 15 finish and an exemption into next year’s PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.
In between, Block had an ace on No. 15 on Sunday playing alongside Rory McIlroy!
MICHAEL. BLOCK. ACE. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/YitD2QLDB7
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 21, 2023
Not only was it an ace but he dunked it on the fly to the point where he had to ask his playing partner “Rory, did it go in?”
It was the first ace by a PGA of America pro since 1996 and led to his top 15 result that was the best finish by a club professional since 1988 according to Justin Ray.
It would take 2,307 of those $125 lessons to make the same amount Michael Block is officially bringing home this week ($288,333).
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) May 21, 2023
Block earned $288,333 for his 15th place finish.
And just when Block thought he was heading back to work at his day job, he received a phone call Michael Tothe, the tournament director at Colonial Country Club, with an offer of the final sponsor’s exemption into the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth.
Michael Block Gets the Call from Colonial with an exemption into the @CSChallengeFW #PGAChamp #golf pic.twitter.com/uPHfTqSdpm
— Jay Betsill (@TheFamousJay) May 22, 2023
Needless to say, Block accepted the offer from Colonial.
“Someone once told me that Colonial sets up pretty good for an old pro like me,” Block said, fighting back tears.
Block will join a stellar field at the Charles Schwab Challenge that also includes Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau, defending champion Sam Burns and past Colonial champions Jordan Spieth, Zach Johnson and Justin Rose.
