Mark SchlabachESPN Senior Writer22. May 2023, 09:022 minutes read
ROCHESTER, NY — Brooks Koepka did not wear his LIV Golf League team’s logo as he won his fifth major title at the 105th PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club on Sunday.
But the three-time PGA Championship winner might as well have had the LIV Golf League on his shoulders. Koepka’s 2-shot win over Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler was the first major championship win by a LIV Golf League player. Other members of the Saudi Arabian-funded circuit said it proved they belonged in the big championships.
“It validates everything we said from the start: that we compete at the highest level and have the ability to win major championships,” said Bryson DeChambeau. “I really hope people see the light of day now as we try to bring something new and fresh to the game of golf. I think at the end of the day both sides have to come together at some point. That’s it.” For the good of the game.”
Koepka – who picked up his second LIV Golf League win in Orlando, Fla. in April and tied for second at the Masters the following week – didn’t seem particularly interested in talking about the impact his win would have on his new league could have.
“Yeah, I definitely think it’s helping LIV, but to be honest I’m more interested in myself right now,” Koepka said. “Yeah, it’s a big deal for LIV, but at the same time, I’m out here competing in the PGA Championship as a singles player. I’m just happy to take this home for the third time.”
Koepka was asked if he had heard from LIV Golf CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman after winning another Wanamaker Trophy. Koepka said he only spoke to his wife Jena, who is pregnant with their first child, a boy.
Norman congratulated Koepka on Twitterin which he wrote, in part, “Congratulations @BKoepka, your comeback was impressive. I’m so proud of you. As for the @livgolf_league players they belong to and the majors and golf knowledge.”
At LIV Golf, four other players finished in the top 20: DeChambeau was fourth with 3 unders, Cameron Smith was ninth with 1 unders, and Patrick Reed and Mito Pereira were 18th with 2 overs.
“We’re still out there,” said Smith, the reigning Open Championship winner. “We do not have that [forgotten] how to play golf We’re all great golfers and we know what we’re capable of and I think that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Last but not least, DeChambeau says, the performance of the LIV Golf League’s players should end the narrative that it is a league of aging and injured golfers who are no longer able to compete at a high level.
“It’s clearly untrue,” DeChambeau said. “I’ve always said that the truth will eventually come out. The truth always comes out, and it is. We have a lot of great players out there and I think people need to start looking at the bright side of things, that we’re trying to do something good for the game.”