American Brooks Koepka survived a major scare to claim his fourth major golf victory at the PGA Championship in New York on Monday (NZ time).
Starting the day with a seemingly insurmountable seven-shot lead over compatriot Dustin Johnson, Koepka prevailed by just two shots, despite five back-nine bogeys during his final round at Bethpage Black.
"I'm just glad we didn't have to play any more holes,” Koepka said on the 18th green. “That was a stressful round of golf.
"I'm still in shock. I don't know if I dreamed of this, but this is so cool."
At one stage, the trailing Johnson drew within one shot of his fellow long-hitter, before bogeys on the 16 and 17th holes put him out of contention.
His 74 was the highest final round by a PGA champion in 15 years, since Vijay Singh’s triumph at the same tournament in 2004.
In total, only seven golfers have finished the tournament with an even-par score or lower.
The win was Koepka's fourth major in his last eight attempts, and will see him leapfrog Johnson to the top of the world rankings.
He also joins Tiger Woods as the only two back-to-back winners of the PGA Championship since it went to stroke play in 1958.
Koepka had dominated the opening three rounds, which included posting the lowest ever 36-hole score of 128 in a major.
After sitting outright second after the opening round, Kiwi golfer Danny Lee shot a seven-over 77 final round to finish six-over for the tournament, tied for 36th.
Newshub.
