February 04-07
TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona
$7,300,000
Round 1, Round 2, Round 3

After a long 18-months coping with knee and hip problems and wondering if he would get his form back, Brooks Koepka has won his eighth PGA Tour title at the Waste Management Phoenix Open where he also won his first title in 2015.

"I went through it mentally. I think that's probably the toughest thing, where you don't know if you're ever going to be the same competitor that you were. You go through some real dark places, and it's not a fun place to be."

Having started his round five strokes behind leaders Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele, he fired three birdies, two eagles and a single bogey at the second for a 6-under 65.

Koepka missed the cut in his last three starts and the bogey at the second didn't bode well but he moved past it quickly with a 24-foot eagle putt at the par-5 3 but it was his second eagle at the par-4 17th that gave him the outright lead and the crowd's loudest reaction of the day.

"I felt like the chip, if I just caught it right in the fringe it was going to check up on me, and it did perfectly," said Koepka. "Took a nice little right kick for me, and didn't look anywhere else but the hole."

"I live for those moments where you got to close, you got to hit some quality shots, quality putts. I just like showing off, I guess."

"I've missed the fans. Just being around fans is something else. I love it. I've played my best golf with fans, so just need to find something when they're not there."

Schauffele, who tied for second at Torrey Pines last week, closed with a 71 to tie once again, with Kyoung-Hoon Lee this time.

"It was a good day to learn from some mistakes," said Schauffele. "Felt like I stayed pretty patient all day."

Patience was needed as he bogeyed twice on the front nine, then twice more on the back nine but also made four birdies.

Lee got within one shot of Koepka with a birdie at the 17th but his drive at the 18th found the rough and he had to settle for par after missing his birdie putt.

"I'm pretty excited this week," said Lee. "Everything good - irons, driver, birdieing, everything - and a lot of saves."

Steve Stricker did not become the oldest player to win on Tour but the 53-year-old U.S. Ryder Cup captain finished in a tree-way tie for fourth with Spieth and Carlos Ortiz after closing with a 67.

"It was a lot of fun," said Stricker. "That's the reason why I come to play in these still. I haven't shown that in the past, but I've been playing better lately. Feeling a little bit better physically, too."

Spieth, like Schauffele, made two bogeys on the front nine, made one more at the 11 then birdied twice to close with a 72.

"Tough start, I needed to one-putt the last two to not have more than 36 putts today. Felt like I hit good putts, and as much as the lid was open other days, it was closed today."