TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Brooks Koepka has done it again.
After winning his second U.S. Open title just 56 days ago at Shinnecock Hills, the Florida State Men’s Golf Alum held off a loaded leaderboard and shot 16-under to win his first career PGA Championship and third career major.
The native of West Palm Beach continues to place himself in impressive company: He joins Tiger Woods (2000), Jack Nicklaus (1980), Ben Hogan (1948) and Gene Sarazen (1922) as the only players to win both the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in the same year.
And according to a tweet by ESPN Stats & Info, Koepka became the third player with multiple wins at 15-under or better. He joins Woods (6) and Rory McIllroy (3) on that list.
“I am beyond proud of Brooks,” FSU head coach Trey Jones said. “To win three of his last six majors proves he continues to be elite at every level. More importantly, seeing his dreams become a reality makes all of us proud of him. There’s no doubt he will continue to excel.”
Perhaps what made Koepka’s victory that much more impressive was holding off a hard-charging Tiger Woods, whose play alone generated great interest in this year’s PGA Championship. Woods finished second at 14-under, but Koepka’s back-to-back birdies on holes 15 and 16 put the exclamation point in another tremendous major win.
Koepka is now Florida State’s all-time leader in major wins with three, surpassing the late great Hubert Green who won the 1977 U.S. Open Championship and the 1985 PGA Championship. He is the fourth Seminole to win a PGA Championship, as Paul Azinger won the major in 1993 and Jeff Sluman won in 1988.
Florida State Men’s Golf now has seven major titles between Koepka (3), Green (2), Azinger (1) and Sluman (1).