Brooks Koepka outdueled Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler on Sunday to win the PGA Championship for his fifth major title, giving Saudi-backed LIV Golf a milestone major triumph.
The 33-year-old American captured his third PGA Championship and became the first player to win a major while with LIV, firing a three-under-par 67 to finish 72 holes at Oak Hill on nine-under 271.
That was good enough for a two-stroke triumph over Norway’s Hovland and American Scheffler, who became the new world number one.
Australia’s Cam Davis and American Kurt Kitayama shared fourth on 277 with another LIV player, American Bryson DeChambeau.
Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy shared seventh on 278 with Austrian Sepp Straka.
Koepka was among the stars who jumped from the PGA Tour to breakaway LIV Golf, which offered record $25 million purses for 54-hole events, despite concern over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.
The PGA banned LIV talent from its events, with a legal fight between them due in court next May. In the meantime, the majors provide the only outlet for competition between players from the rival tours.
Koepka was greeted with boos when he arrived on the first tee Saturday but turned the jeers to roars with a third-round 66.
There were scattered boos among the cheers as he reached the 18th green on his walk to victory but was undistracted as he finished off the triumph.
