KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Brooks Koepka knew his chances at a fifth major had vanished and now he was in survival mode on the 18th fairway Sunday at the PGA Championship.
With security being overwhelmed and the out-of-control crowd storming The Ocean Course, Koepka was thinking more about his health than hanging onto second place as he tried to protect a right knee what was surgically repaired just two months ago.
Koepka managed to break through the crowd after being bumped in the knee a few times and seeing his caddie, Ricky Elliott, getting “drilled” in the face. He completed his par for a 74 and a share of second place, two shots behind Phil Mickelson.
“It would have been cool if I didn’t have a knee injury and got dinged a few times in the knee in that crowd because no one really gave a s–t, personally,” Koepka said.
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The physical pain of the knee being banged around, Koepka will overcome. He’s proven over and over again he’s just different and gritty when it comes to dealing with adversity and challenges inside and outside the ropes.
The mental part of knowing how close he came to winning despite a dreadful week putting, that will be a bigger chore.
“I’m super disappointed, pretty bummed,” he said. “I’m not happy. I don’t know if there’s a right word I can say here without getting fined, but it hurts a little bit. It’s one of those things where I just never felt comfortable over the putts. I don’t know why, what happened.”
PGA Tour are you fining yourself for your lack of security on 18! Quick to fine players for their lapses of judgement #hypocritical
— Bob Koepka (@BobKoepka) May 24, 2021
Koepka liked his chances entering the day one shot behind leader Mickelson. Always does when he’s in contention in a major on a Sunday, even though it does not always work out. He liked them even more after one hole, when a two-shot swing gave him his first outright lead of the tournament.
But that was the high-water point for the four-time major winner. A double-bogey and three-shot swing on No. 2 started a wild ride that, during one stretch, had him navigating several of the waste areas on the windswept course.
Koepka finished with a 4-under 284, tied for second with South African Luis Oosthuizen. His disappointment, though, should be cushioned when he steps back and realizes what he accomplished having played for just the third time in three months and still unable to squat naturally following surgery to reattach a ligament in his knee.
Koepka’s dominance in majors since his first, four years ago in the U.S. Open, goes beyond hoisting the trophy. He now has 14 career top 10s in majors, including three second-place finishes. Koepka admits something stirs inside him when it comes to majors. But with that comes more hurt and bigger disappointment when he lets one slip away.
“Maybe that’s down the line,” he said about actually feeling good about the week and jumping six spots in the Official World Golf Ranking to No. 7.
This is the second consecutive Sunday at the PGA Championship in which Koepka faltered. A year ago, as the two-time defending champion, he entered the final round at Harding Park two shots off the lead and finished with the second-highest score of the day (74) that dropped him into a tie for 29th.
Koepka’s undoing this year started on the second hole when he had to lay up out of the bunker and then needed two shots to get out of the rough. But it got worse during a seven-hole stretch starting at No. 7 when he hit one of the six fairways and made four bogeys.
Brooks Koepka watches his tee shot on the 9th hole during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Koepka started the stretch tied for the lead at 6-under. He ended it five shots behind and essentially out of contention. He did make a run, with birdies on two of his final four holes, but it was much too late.
Still, that was significant considering it got him back to second.
Koepka has now had a front-row seat for the two most dramatic and memorable majors.
Two years ago, he paused play at least once on his back nine of the Masters to take a peek at Tiger Woods, as Tiger was completing his stunning victory. Koepka finished tied for second on that day, too.
Mickelson’s win Sunday was as historic. No one over 50 had ever won a major until Sunday. For Mickelson, who turns 51 in a little more than three weeks, this is his sixth major, first in eight years.
And the crowd was as energized and partisan this Sunday as it was that rainy day at Augusta, even more so turning that 18th fairway into a Miami Beach rave. The most famous storming of the course before Sunday was in 2018 when the crowd surrounded Tiger on the 18th fairway during the Tour Championship.
For Koepka, it was a surreal moment he actually would have somewhat enjoyed if not for having to protect his body.
“I’ve never had something like that,” Mickelson said. “It was a little bit unnerving but it was exceptionally awesome, too.”
Koepka would agree with part of that.
from Golfweek https://ift.tt/3yA0Hp5
