PGA Championship: Brooks Koepka takes fifth major in stunning weekend

Brooks Koepka has returned to glory and earned a block party following a difficult period for the now three-time PGA Championship winner. His legacy will inevitably be discussed and rightfully so, as he cements himself as a golfing great. The tournament was a fantastic spectacle, including some simply glorious storylines.

The early talk of Oak Hill was that there was no chance someone would shoot low due to the extremely thick roughs and narrow fairways – and generally, that was right. Jon Rahm was nowhere for all four days, Speith and Thomas barely made an impression and plenty of established golfers missed the cut. That would not stop one excelling the rest and having a perfect weekend.

Brooks Koepka was absolutely astonishing throughout the whole weekend. He remained patient during the tricky conditions of Thursday and Friday and hunted on the final two days. Following his Masters disappointment, you felt he had psychologically refocused and was ready to rebound in Rochester.

His ‘Full Swing’ episode extorted the perspective and psychological misdemeanours of Brooks Koepka. He constantly used to punish himself for his errors, which appears to have traversed. At Augusta in April, he fell short to remarkable Jon Rahm, but I’m sure that major Sunday feeling was an almighty buzz for Brooks. His performance at Oak Hill was not for LIV Golf, but for himself. His composure, pace and confidence oozed out to trump the pressure from Hovland and Scheffler.

Brooks Koepka’s legacy must be discussed, as he enters an elite list of golfer’s that have won five majors – people will debate, is he a modern-day great? It is simpler than that, because you just have to ask, do you consider Rory McIlroy, a four-time major winner a great? Brooks has been relentless, and now he must look to chase those two missing majors to cement a special career for a monstrous golfer.

Viktor Hovland has been in contention on Sunday for the last three majors (including The Open at St. Andrews) which is a stunning display of consistency. He might rue the double-bogey on 16th, but it feels the time for him to earn a major is pending, and the Norwegian will eventually earn the lucrative major he is vying for.

Rory McIlroy’s golf was once again mediocre, regularly disappointing, and inconsistent over the four days, and using those words to describe a man that finished at -2 might sound bizarre. The contrast to the description was McIlroy’s mentality – which was brazenly strong. If the four-time major winner wishes to add to that, he needs to marry his golf game with his mentality.

Unquestionably, normally the major winner is the face of the back pages and is all anyone is raving about on Twitter – but not after this weekend. Club pro Michael Block shot a round of +1 to secure a place at Valhalla, but his road to that journey was utterly remarkable, as he captured the hearts of the golfing world.

Block played with Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy – that alone is a Cinderella story. On Sunday though, two shots must be picked out. Firstly, a hole in one, slam dunk, straight in the hole. He turns to Rory, and repeats “no way”, just in disbelief, as the crowd roared on a legend. It’s the stuff of dreams. Disbelief was the look on the face of Michael Block, who charges £150 for golf lessons. He was absolutely remarkable across all four days, and watching the fairy-tale being played out was special.

He was not just a lousy club pro who had the largest stroke of luck in history. Of course, he was riding the crest of a wave of confidence, but if you look at the pitch shot onto the green to save par on the final hole is a shot which commentators bawl over if it is an established pro. He absolutely deserves the glory and $288,333 that is on his way and is such a humble character. We all cannot wait for his Netflix episode.

This all played a part in a fantastic tournament, where the best battled their way through a fantastic Oak Hill. This will be one of the events talked about at the end of the year, and rightfully so.