Brooks Koepka struggled to put into words what it meant to win his third US PGA Championship and fifth major title after an impressive victory at Oak Hill.
Koepka carded a final round of 67 to finish two shots ahead of Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler, whose share of second place was enough to take him back to the top of the world rankings.
Koepka will climb from 44th to 13th in the updated standings and also moves into the automatic qualifying places for the United States Ryder Cup team.
The 33-year-old won his first four majors in the space of eight events, but suffered injuries and a loss of form before joining LIV Golf last year, having previously suggested those switching to the Saudi-funded circuit would be “selling out”.
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“This is incredible, this is wild,” Koepka said. “When I look back at where we were two years ago I’m just so happy right now. I’m kind of at a loss for words. This is the coolest thing.
“This one is definitely a lot sweeter. There’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears that have gone into this one. Life has changed a lot for me but this one is super gratifying for me.
“I don’t know how many guys have won five times but to be in with those names is incredible. I’m not sure as I kid I even dreamed about doing it.
“I’m not trying to prove to anyone else that I can still play. I can still do it and I like the way things are starting to come together. I think when I’m healthy I think I’m back to where I was during that good stretch.”
Hovland has finished fourth, seventh and second in the last three majors and his closing 68 was a considerable improvement on final rounds of 74 in both last year’s Open Championship and this year’s Masters.
“It sucks right now, but it is really cool to see that things are going in the right direction,” Hovland said.
“If I just keep taking care of my business and just keep working on what I’ve been doing, I think we’re going to get one of these soon.
“Brooks is a great player and now he has five majors. I mean, that’s a hell of a record right there. It’s not easy going toe to toe with a guy like that.
“So I feel like I belong out here, I just have got to get a little bit better and hopefully it goes my way the next time.”
Scheffler was left to rue birdie putts which lipped out on the first and ninth as he was unable to put any early pressure on Koepka.
“I had two of the worst lip-outs that I have ever seen today,” he said. “The balls were trickling and I thought I was ready to take a step like they were going in.
“One horseshoed at trickle pace, and the other one lipped out and stayed about an inch from the edge. In order to win these tournaments the putts have to fall in. They didn’t fall, but I put up a good fight.
“I gave the guys on top of the leaderboard something to think about and I kind of made a little bit much a move, but Brooks just played some fantastic golf this week. He played too good this weekend for me to catch up to him.”
