For the first time in more than a year, Brooks Koepka is victorious. Capturing the 2022 LIV Golf in Jeddah event on Sunday, Koepka finished at 12 under and needed three playoff holes to overtake his teammate and 36-hole leader Peter Uihlein at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club. Playing alongside each other on the final day, up-and-down rounds were experienced by the two members of Smash GC.
Beginning the day one stroke off Uihlein’s pace, Koepka quickly went in front as his playing competitor carded a double bogey and bogey in his first three holes. The four-time major champion remained steady on his outward half, and ultimately turned in 1 under before adding another birdie on No. 10 to command a two-stroke lead over Uihlein, Sergio Garcia and a large cast of pursuers.
Only then did Koepka begin to experience some troubles of his own. Making three consecutive bogeys from Nos. 11-13, the 33-year-old’s name plummeted down the leaderboard. An unlikely birdie from the desert on the par-4 15th put Koepka back on the straight and narrow before he added another birdie on the 54th hole alongside Uilhein to knock Garcia and Joaquin Niemann out of contention at 11 under.
The two traded birdies on the first two extra holes, but disaster struck for Uihlein on the third playoff hole when he hit his third shot from the greenside bunker into the water. Leaving the door open for Koepka, the Smash GC captain marched on through and secured his first win on LIV Golf with yet another birdie.
“The last two years, they haven’t been fun. It’s been a long road, I am super excited,” said Koepka. “My whole team, we got the band back together, literally. We got Claude [Harmon] on the team, Peter [Cowen] — I’ve worked with Pete very, very hard — and Jeff [Pierce] as well, so shoutout to them, this is for them.
“I didn’t know if my career was over for a half second. I told Claude that I wasn’t sure if I was going to play. It’s nice to be able to come back and to be able to win.”
Koepka not only triumphed individually but also led his team to its first victory. While Brooks was the star of the show, it was younger brother Chase who provided the steady hand as his scores were used in each of the three rounds. With the victory, Smash GC moved up to fifth in the team standings — narrowly missing out on a bye in the first round of the Team Championship — and will be the first to pick their quarterfinal opponent for the LIV Golf finale in two weeks.
Team leaderboard
|
1 |
Smash |
Chase Koepka, Peter Uihlein, Brooks Koepka, Jason Kokrak |
-33 |
|
2 |
Fireballs |
Sergio Garcia, Carlos Ortiz, Abraham Ancer, Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra |
-27 |
|
T3 |
Crushers |
Bryson DeChambeau, Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri |
-26 |
|
T3 |
4 Aces |
Dustin Johnson, Talor Gooch, Pat Perez, Patrick Reed |
-26 |
|
5 |
Hy Flyers |
Phil Mickelson, Bernd Wiesberger, Cameron Tringale, Matthew Wolff |
-25 |
|
6 |
Torque |
Jediah Morgan, Hideto Tanihara, Scott Vincent, Joaquin Niemann |
-20 |
|
T7 |
Majesticks |
Sam Horsfield, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson |
-18 |
|
T7 |
Cleeks |
Richard Bland, Laurie Canter, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell |
-18 |
|
T7 |
Stinger |
Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen, Shaun Norris, Branden Grace |
-18 |
|
T10 |
Punch |
Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Wade Ormsby, Matt Jones |
-12 |
|
T10 |
Niblicks |
Turk Petit, James Piot, Hudson Swafford, Harold Varner III |
-12 |
|
12 |
Iron Heads |
Kevin Na, Sihwan Kim, Phacara Khongwatmai, Sadom Kaewkanjana |
-11 |
ZOZO Championship + LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah Recap, Reaction & Analysis | PGA Tour Podcast. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
What is next for LIV Golf?
The Team Championship is set to take place Oct. 28-30 at Trump National Doral in Miami. The 4 Aces, Crushers, Fireballs and Stingers have all secured a bye on the first day of competition while the teams ranked 5-12 will partake in the quarterfinals.
Koepka’s Smash GC is the fifth seed, and as such will have the first opportunity to select the opponent it wishes to face. This selection process will continue for the Majesticks, Torque GC and the Hy Flyers. Teams will compete in three matches — two singles and one alternate shot — on the first two days of the championship before taking to stroke play where all four members’ scores will count.