PGA Championship darling Michael Block ties course record at Valhalla Golf Club

The 47-year-old club pro who forever became part of PGA Championship lore found lightning in a bottle once again.

After becoming the biggest story of the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, Michael Block had largely retreated to a life of teaching the game at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California.

After his triumphant showing, Block made subsequent appearances at the Charles Schwab Challenge and RBC Canadian Open, but missed the cut in both events.

But the 47-year-old club pro — who forever became part of PGA Championship lore when he aced the 151-yard par-3 15th hole at Oak Hill on Sunday with a 7-iron — found lightning in a bottle again on Thursday when he traveled to Valhalla Golf Club in Lousiville as part of a scouting trip for next year’s tournament.

Block carded seven birdies and an eagle during the practice round on Thursday, finishing his round at 9 under and tying the course record, a mark that was set by Jose Maria Olazabal at the 2000 PGA Championship.

Block’s wild ride at the 2023 event in Upstate New York netted him nearly $300,000 as he placed him in a tie for 15th, captivating golf fans around the country in the process.

He also revealed that he had previously charged his students $150 per hour during his lessons.

During the final round, Block aced the par-3 No. 15 hole with a shot that he dunked straight into the cup, without even hitting the flagpole. The hole-in-one brought Block’s score to even-par after his up-and-down round.

Block was paired with Rory McIlroy, the No. 3 player in the Official World Golf Ranking and four-time major winner. After Block sunk his shot at 15, McIlroy went over and gave him a hug as both players smiled. Block, seemingly in disbelief, was caught on the broadcast saying: “That didn’t go in, did it? No, no. No way. No way.”

With his finish in the top 20, Block automatically earned a berth into the 2024 event at Valhalla.

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Photos: Michael Block through the years

View photos of Michael Block throughout his golfing career.

Michael Block took the golf world by storm at the 2023 PGA Championship after a T-15 finish at Oak Hill.

The club pro at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club, in Mission Viejo, California, had a week to remember in Rochester, New York. Between playing with Rory McIlroy in the final round of a major, a hole-in-one and one of the best up-and-downs we’ve seen in recent history, Block is one of the biggest names in the game at the moment.

After his performance at Oak Hill, the sponsor invites came flooding in and resulted in Block changing his flight back home to California to Fort Worth, Texas, to play at Colonial.

The golf world should know that Block is no flash in the pan. He’s played in over 25 PGA Tour events including two U.S. Opens and five PGA Championships. Block also won Southern California PGA Player of the Year honors nine times between 2012 and 2022.

His T-15 at Oak Hill not only netted him a couple of sponsor invites, but it also gave him an exemption into the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. Until then, let’s all enjoy the Block party.

Lynch: Brooks Koepka’s major victory is being hijacked by hangers-on

For all that has changed in golf, one thing has remained constant whenever Brooks Koepka wins a major.

For all that has changed in golf, one thing has remained constant whenever Brooks Koepka wins a major championship: his ornery refusal to submit to the customary show and tell tour of television talk shows. A few hours after winning the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday, he headed home to Florida, where he spent Monday celebrating with his buddies on a boat before taking the silverware to a Panthers game. Meanwhile, a man who tied 15th appeared on the Today show, Good Morning America and CNN.

If Koepka was uninterested in using his PGA Championship victory as a platform for point scoring, there was no shortage of scavengers eager to do so in his stead.

His swing instructor, Claude Harmon III, was first out of the blocks, exploiting the moment to air his grievances about those in media (chiefly Brandel Chamblee, with a drive-by caress of yours truly) whose criticisms of LIV Golf are at odds with his avaricious burrowing into the Saudi trough. Harmon has been an occasional friend for 20 years, but even his pals know he’s peerless in marketing himself on the accomplishments of others, a skill honed from the cradle. His attack featured all the whataboutery you’d expect from one more apt to flatter royalty than to inquire after those they torture. (In CH3’s defense, no one should be subjected to a Chamblee reply that is ungoverned by Twitter character limits).

Alert to any opportunity to remind his Saudi overlords that he’s a loyal supplicant, Phil Mickelson leapt on the Brooks bandwagon and sought to portray the win not as proof of Koepka’s brilliance but as evidence of the superiority of the circuit he helped engineer. “Love LIV or hate it, it’s the best way/Tour to be your best in the majors,” he tweeted. “Enough events to keep you sharp, fresh and ready, yet not be worn down from too many tournaments or obligations. 14 LIV events, 34 weeks left open to prepare for the 4 majors. Fact.”

That Mickelson cannot distinguish between statements of fact and opinion comes as no shock since he has long since blurred the line between fact and fiction too.

Greg Norman cheered the victory as one for LIV and organized a welcoming party for the champ at Trump National in Washington, D.C., that had all the spontaneity and genuine warmth of a Pyongyang parade honoring Dear Leader. No such theater greeted Jon Rahm when he arrived at the RBC Heritage fresh off his Masters win, but then no one was desperate to leverage the Spaniard’s success for their own interests.

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Even Bryson DeChambeau has been drafting on his former nemesis. “It validates everything we’ve said from the beginning. That we’re competing at the highest level, and we have the ability to win major championships,” he said, making two points, only one of which is demonstrably true, and even then only for a handful of his colleagues.

Koepka’s fifth major no more belongs to Norman or LIV than his previous four did to Jay Monahan or the PGA Tour, and in the immediate afterglow Koepka bristled at what he knew was coming. Have you heard from Norman? he was asked. “I called my wife, and that’s it,” he replied. “That’s the only person I’m really interested in talking to.”

“I definitely think it helps LIV, but I’m more interested in my own self right now,” he went on. “It’s a huge thing for LIV, but at the same time I’m out here competing as an individual at the PGA Championship.”

Koepka makes a poor patsy for LIV’s lickspittles. He was openly dismissive of regular PGA Tour events so the notion that he’s invested in 54-hole shotgun starts against the Andy Ogletrees of the world is fanciful. He was not a plaintiff in the Saudi-funded litigation, has chosen not to badmouth the tour he left, and has not been a particularly enthusiastic propagandist for the tour he joined. He gives the impression of a man checking the boxes required of him, nothing more.

But while Koepka goes about his business, his triumph is used as a smokescreen by charlatans. Criticisms about Saudi sportswashing, or about the viability of the LIV product, are not nullified because he can still deliver in majors. Sunday reminded us that Koepka is a formidable predator who chooses to swim in a shallow pond, but the days since have revealed the extent to which he is surrounded by pilot fish trying to subsist on his success.

83rd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship: Fields Ranch yields plenty of red numbers in debut

Padraig Harrington carded a bogey-free 8-under 64 to pace the field.

FRISCO, Texas — The PGA of America welcomed the golf world into its new home as Fields Ranch East Course at PGA Frisco plays host to the 83rd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

While the state-of-the-art office space that serves as the new home of the PGA of America has been occupied since 2022, the Senior PGA serves as the christening of the Fields Ranch East course, a Gil Hanse design that has impressed plenty of pros as they have tried to meander their way through his strategic bunkering and subtle but taxing green complexes.

While Fields Ranch isn’t an easy test, two aces were recorded in the first-ever tournament round at the course.

Yet another PGA Professional made history in Thursday’s opening round as Dave McNabb lays claim to the first hole-in-one at Fields Ranch. Similar to Michael Block’s iconic shot at Oak Hill, McNabb never saw it go in the hole.

“I saw one bounce and I sort of picked my tee up,” McNabb told pool reporters. “My caddie, Donny (Wessner), says, ‘It went in!’ Good stuff.”

While McNabb’s ace on the 165-yard 8th will forever be known as the first in course history, former Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin made an ace of his own on No. 4.

Out of his 15 career aces, the one at Fields Ranch ranks up there with the 1 he had at No. 16 in the 1992 Masters. Coincidentally, Pavin’s playing partner, Kenny Perry, was witness to both.

“Kenny is my good luck charm apparently,” Pavin chuckled.

Aside from the two aces, plenty of red numbers dot the leaderboard.

As a second shot golf course, Fields Ranch plays into the hands of ball strikers. As one of the best ball strikers on the PGA Tour Champions, Padraig Harrington carded a bogey-free 8-under 64 to pace the field.

A key part to scoring at Fields Ranch? The wind.

“Because every hole nearly has a hazard down one side of it, the wind direct has a big effect on this course, it really, really does,” Harrington said.

“In some ways the reason it was an easy 64 is because when you’re playing with somebody like Rocco there’s always a bit of chat and there’s always a bit of fun going on, so you’re quite relaxed. And that really does make a difference to how you feel about your shots and things like that. So it’s something as professionals we always need to keep reminding ourselves.”

Rocco Mediate shared the same sentiment.

“Going around here in the pro-am you’re not seeing low, you don’t see ’em because then — but then when the things change, the golf course is perfect. Wind wasn’t that bad today. I don’t think it’s going to be that bad. You give these guys some different irons into some of these greens they’re going to tear the grass off it. That’s how it’s always been.”

With wind typically a factor this time of year in North Texas, Fields Ranch offers a fair test whether the wind is ripping or not. Luckily for the players this week, the winds should stay at or around 10 miles per hour for the rest of the tournament.

With the wind remaining calm, we’ll get a preview of just how low players can go at the home of the PGA of America. With 25 more championships scheduled through 2034, it will be interesting to see the pace set this week.

Fields Ranch has allowed players to take advantage of well executed shots but has also gotten the better of players who weren’t committed to every single shot. PGA Professional, Bob Sowards, was one of a handful of players thrown off of his game plan.

“Oh, it was very frustrating,” Sowards told reporters following his first round 1-under 71. 

Three under at the turn, Sowards lost all progress with a double bogey-bogey start on the back nine.

“I got pretty angry out there. I told KB, I got to be the dumbest guy on this whole property. Because if you’re going to make a game plan you might as well follow it. I chose not to and paid the price. So, oh, well. At least I still shot under par and gives me a chance going forward.”

Through round one, over 30 players are in red figures with over a dozen more at even par. Ideal weather and fast and firm playing conditions could result in one of the lowest scoring senior majors in recent history.

Defending champion Steven Alker shot a 2-under 70 and is tied for 18th after 18 holes.

Michael Block wasn’t the only one who had his biggest payday at the 2023 PGA Championship. His caddie did too

Caddie John Jackson did some math on the calculator app on his phone after Block finished T-15.

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Club pro Michael Block wasn’t the only one who cashed the biggest check of his life at the 105th PGA Championship on Sunday.

His caddie, John Jackson, did the math on the calculator app of his phone  Sunday evening after Block finished T-15, the best result by a club pro since 1986, and earned $288,333. Jackson’s take home: $20,183.31.

In a video that was posted on social media, Block looks at the figure (7 percent of Block’s winnings) on Jackson’s phone, smiles widely, slaps him five and gives him knuckles.

“It’s been unreal, surreal, literally a dream, a movie, whatever,” Jackson said Sunday as Block was honored at the 18th green for being the low finisher among the club pros. “Mike and I were pinching ourselves going down the fairways. It was weird. The whole thing is crazy.”

Jackson’s regular job is caddying for resort guests at Spyglass Hill in Pebble Beach, California, where he’s looped full-time since 2017. In college, Jackson played for the Cal State Monterey Bay Otters and was part of the NCAA Division II National Championship team in 2011.

Block was one of 20 PGA professionals to qualify for the PGA Championship. He is a 10-time Southern California PGA Player of the Year and the reigning PGA Professional of the Year. Jackson and Block met as competitors at a California State Open around 10 years ago. Block played at the TaylorMade Pebble Beach Invitational one year and Jackson got on his bag and they almost won.

Jackson had previously worked a few majors, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am – but only for amateurs – and the PGA Tour Champions Pure Insurance Open for the last 15 years. Jackson caddied for Block at the PGA at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last year during the practice rounds but got promoted to full status at Oak Hill.

“He called me and said, ‘Do you want to do the whole week this year?’ And we made it the whole week,” Jackson said.

Of Block’s hole-in-one, Jackson noted that he hadn’t made a putt all day. “I said, ‘Just hit it closer,’ ” Jackson recalled.

He did, flying a 7-iron at 15 directly into the cup.

“I wasn’t helping much because I was pumping him up,” Jackson said.

Initially, Jackson planned to decompress on Monday and Tuesday and get back to reality. He said he had some vacationers who had requested work. That all changed when Block was offered a sponsor exemption into the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, which got underway Thursday. Jackson is back on the bag for another Tour start and a chance for another gigantic payday.

“I’d do it again right now if I could,” Jackson said Sunday.

It turns out he didn’t have to wait that long.

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D’Angelo: It would be un-American to leave Brooks Koepka off Ryder Cup team

Anyone who cares about the Ryder Cup should not be happy if Brooks Koepka is not a part of the team.

What is Zach Johnson going to say now:

“It’s two weeks?”

The U.S. Ryder Cup captain had a very uncomfortable week at the PGA Championship answering questions about LIV golfers — particularly Brooks Koepka — making his team.

And when asked before the tournament, Johnson downplayed Koepka’s runner-up finish at the Masters by saying, “It’s one week.”

Then, Koepka proved he’s more than a one-week wonder and won his fifth major Sunday at Oak Hill Country Club outside of Rochester.

Although LIV golfers have been suspended by the PGA Tour, they remain members of the PGA of America, which makes them eligible to play for the U.S. in the Ryder Cup, which this year will be in September outside of Rome. The PGA of America runs the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup.

And by winning, Koepka actually is doing Johnson a big favor. Having vaulted to No. 2 in the Ryder Cup rankings, Koepka could take that sticky decision out of Johnson’s hands. The top six in the rankings are automatically on the team. It’s the next six, selected by the captain, that will be dissected and put Johnson on the spot.

More: Brooks Koepka’s coach blasts media, bashes Brandel Chamblee for treatment of LIV Golf players

But not when it comes to Koepka if he maintains that spot in the top six. The only events remaining that will earn him Ryder Cup points are the U.S. Open and British Open.

Koepka second, first in Masters, PGA Championship

Koepka, who joined LIV 11 months ago, has played in two majors this year, the only PGA Tour events he’s eligible for, and finished second and first. Perhaps he was onto something when asked prior to the tournament what would it take to pressure Johnson to add a LIV golfer to the team.

“Go second, first, first, first,” he said about the majors. “It would be kind of tough not to pick, right?”

Not really. In fact, it would be very easy. Koepka, who held the No. 1 spot for 47 weeks, most recently in 2020, once again is the best golfer in the world. Forget what the world rankings say. Given what we’ve seen in the only two events he’s played that matter, nobody believes he’s No. 13, his current world ranking.

Koepka has two more chances to impress Johnson in majors. But even Johnson recognizes that when healthy Koepka has been the best golfer in the world over the last seven years when lights shine brightest.

Starting with his fourth-place finish at the 2016 PGA Championship, Koepka has played in 23 majors with five wins, four times as runner-up and 11 times in the top five. He finished in the top 10 more than 60 percent (14 of 23). And his worst stretch — last year when he was 55th twice and missed the cut twice — came when he wondered if he’d ever be elite again after a long recovery from major knee surgery.

“What I appreciate about Brooks is just how he goes about his work in massive tournaments,” Johnson said. “He’s a rare breed mentally where he just is able to bring out his best in the most difficult and trying of circumstances.”

Johnson understands how much chemistry matters on a team like this. The most documented example occurred in 2004 when Hal Sutton paired Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson when their relationship was frosty. They lost both their matches on opening day to kick start Europe’s easy victory.

“Chemistry is important on any team,” Johnson said. “It’s important with anything you’re trying to construct if you want to go out and win. My No. 1 goal as the leader is to go put these guys in a position to win, whatever that looks like.”

Check that one off, too. Nobody on the Tour would have an issue with Koepka, or even Dustin Johnson, being a part of the Ryder Cup team. Zach Johnson’s bigger issue may be deciding on Dustin Johnson.

After all, we’re not talking about Patrick Reed or Bryson DeChambeau, two LIV golfers who did not endear themselves to their peers during their time on the PGA Tour and certainly are not missed.

“When you talk about the LIV golfers that left the PGA Tour to go play over there, you never hear a bad word from those players about Brooks Koepka.” Golf Channel analyst Brad Faxon said on air Sunday following the PGA Championship.

“I think Brooks would be a fantastic addition to the team, particularly inside the locker room. Zach would be foolish not to consider him.”

Chamblee says including Koepka ‘slap in the face’ to those who stayed

Faxon’s fellow analyst, Brandel Chamblee, said including Koepka would be “a slap in the face to the players that didn’t go, that didn’t take the money and go to LIV, that somebody who took the money could now have their cake and eat it too?”

Koepka made his decision about a year ago to leave the PGA Tour for LIV, which is financed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, when his head was in a much different place. Now, he clearly has questioned that move.

Following the Masters, Koepka was asked if the decision to join LIV would have been more challenging had he felt this good, and were playing this good, at that time.

“Honestly, yeah, probably, if I’m being completely honest,” Koepka said. “I think it would have been. But I’m happy with the decision I made.”

Koepka cannot be happy that he is relevant four times a year and in between goes back to playing on LIV.

The debate will rage — and follow Zach Johnson — throughout the summer. But anyone who cares about the Ryder Cup should not be happy if Brooks Koepka is not a part of the team.

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How many LIV Golf players should we expect at the 2024 PGA Championship?

As it currently stands, five players are in the field for the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla.

Of the 156 golfers in the field for the 2023 PGA Championship last week, 18 played for the LIV Golf League. Eleven players made the weekend cut – including winner Brooks Koepka – and five went on to finish inside the top 20.

With Rochester, New York’s Oak Hill Country Club in the rearview and Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, faintly on the horizon, how many LIV players should we expect to see at the 2024 PGA Championship? As it stands now, not many.

Major championships can change their qualification criteria at their discretion, which golf fans recently witnessed with the USGA-Talor Gooch debacle. For the sake of this exercise, we’re going to assume the PGA of America will use the same 13 qualification criteria (and special invitations) for 2024 as it did for 2023.

Here’s how it shakes out:

Former PGA champions

Phil Mickelson and Koepka have lifetime exemptions, so get used to seeing them.

Winners of the last five U.S. Opens

Bryson DeChambeau won the 2020 U.S Open, making him exempt to the PGA until 2025.

Winners of the last five Masters

Dustin Johnson also won in 2020, so he’s also exempt in the PGA until 2025.

Winners of the last five Open Championships

Cameron Smith is in until the 2027 PGA after his performance last summer at St. Andrews in the Open.

Winners of the last three Players Championships

Smith is also double-dipping with his Players win last spring.

Top 3 on the Official World Golf Ranking International Federation Ranking List

Sihwan Kim, perennially at the bottom of the LIV leaderboards, is currently third on this list via his Asian Tour status. LIV has invested $300 million in the Asian Tour and created its International Series, where a certain number of LIV players are required to compete. Don’t expect more than one player to qualify this way.

The current Senior PGA Champion

Richard Bland, Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood are LIV’s only members of the 50-and-over club, and none will be in the field for this week’s KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, May 24-28, at PGA Frisco in Texas.

The low 15 scorers and ties in the previous PGA Championship

Players could have qualified via this exemption, like club pro Michael Block, but the three who qualified inside the top 15 (Koepka, DeChambeau, Smith), are already qualified for 2024. Just missing out were Patrick Reed (T-18), Mito Pereira (T-18) and Harold Varner III (T-29)

The 20 low scorers in the last PGA Professional Championship

LIV players won’t compete in this event. Next.

The 70 leaders in PGA Championship points list

The list is based off official money earned on the PGA Tour since the previous PGA Championship. If you haven’t been following closely, a few lawsuits are ongoing that will keep this from happening.

Members of the most recent U.S. and European Ryder Cup Teams who are inside the top 100 of the OWGR one week before the PGA Championship

Because of the struggle to earn qualification points, LIV players are almost assuredly going to have to be captain’s picks if they have any shot at making the U.S. or European teams for the upcoming Ryder Cup later this fall in Italy. Future sure-fire captains such as Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter recently resigned their DP World Tour memberships, removing them from consideration to represent Team Europe.

Any tournament winner co-sponsored or approved by the PGA Tour since the previous PGA Championship

LIV’s antitrust lawsuit against the Tour and the Tour’s countersuit almost assuredly won’t be decided by next spring, so this criteria is also a wash.

Special invitations

That means using last year’s criteria and this year’s event, just five players – Koepka, DeChambeau, Smith, Johnson and Mickelson – are currently slated to make an appearance at Valhalla in 2024. The PGA Championship could create a category for LIV Golf players to qualify, but as it stands now, the only chance other players have to qualify is with a special invitation, by winning one of the next three majors or the Players, making a 2023 Ryder Cup team or via the International Federation Ranking List.

A player like who qualifies for next year’s PGA could take his talents from one of the tours to LIV Golf between now and next spring, similar to Thomas Pieters this year. That said, the rumor mill for defections to the Saudi Arabia-backed league has gone silent this season.

For now, we wait and see.

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Prize money payouts for each player at the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill

It pays to play well in major championships.

It pays to play well at major championships, folks. Just ask the latest winner, Brooks Koepka.

The 33-year-old formerly on the PGA Tour who now plays for the LIV Golf League claimed his fifth major title Sunday at the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, earning a cool $3.15 million for his two-shot victory over runners-up Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland, who will each take home $1.54 million.

Cam Davis, Kurt Kitayama and Bryson DeChambeau each finished T-4 at 3 under to claim $720,000 a piece.

Check out the prize money payouts for each player below at the 2023 PGA Championship.

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2023 PGA Championship money

Position Player Score Earnings
1 Brooks Koepka -9 $3,150,000
2 Scottie Scheffler -7 $1,540,000
3 Viktor Hovland -7 $1,540,000
T4 Cam Davis -3 $720,000
T4 Kurt Kitayama -3 $720,000
T4 Bryson DeChambeau -3 $720,000
T7 Sepp Straka -2 $555,000
T7 Rory McIlroy -2 $555,000
T9 Cameron Smith -1 $465,000
T9 Patrick Cantlay -1 $465,000
T9 Justin Rose -1 $465,000
T12 Shane Lowry E $365,000
T12 Victor Perez E $365,000
T12 Corey Conners E $365,000
T15 Tyrrell Hatton 1 $288,333
T15 Eric Cole 1 $288,333
T15 Michael Block 1 $288,333
T18 Mito Pereira 2 $214,400
T18 Xander Schauffele 2 $214,400
T18 Min Woo Lee 2 $214,400
T18 Patrick Reed 2 $214,400
T18 Tommy Fleetwood 2 $214,400
T23 Alex Smalley 3 $165,000
T23 Matt NeSmith 3 $165,000
T23 Ryan Fox 3 $165,000
T26 Collin Morikawa 4 $135,000
T26 Hayden Buckley 4 $135,000
T26 Justin Suh 4 $135,000
T29 Callum Tarren 5 $90,136
T29 Patrick Rodgers 5 $90,136
T29 Denny McCarthy 5 $90,136
T29 K.H. Lee 5 $90,136
T29 Adam Scott 5 $90,136
T29 Jordan Spieth 5 $90,136
T29 Harold Varner III 5 $90,136
T29 Keegan Bradley 5 $90,136
T29 Chris Kirk 5 $90,136
T29 Taylor Pendrith 5 $90,136
T29 Hideki Matsuyama 5 $90,136
T40 Adrian Meronk 6 $46,900
T40 Thomas Detry 6 $46,900
T40 J.T. Poston 6 $46,900
T40 Adam Hadwin 6 $46,900
T40 Lucas Herbert 6 $46,900
T40 Beau Hossler 6 $46,900
T40 Chez Reavie 6 $46,900
T40 Thomas Pieters 6 $46,900
T40 Adam Svensson 6 $46,900
T40 Sahith Theegala 6 $46,900
T50 Padraig Harrington 7 $37,625
T50 Nicolai Hojgaard 7 $37,625
T50 Jon Rahm 7 $37,625
T50 Stephan Jaeger 7 $37,625
54 Dean Burmester 8 $36,000
T55 Lee Hodges 9 $35,000
T55 Max Homa 9 $35,000
T55 Dustin Johnson 9 $35,000
T58 Phil Mickelson 10 $33,250
T58 Zach Johnson 10 $33,250
T58 Tom Hoge 10 $33,250
T58 Keith Mitchell 10 $33,250
T62 Rikuya Hoshino 11 $31,250
T62 Sihwan Kim 11 $31,250
T62 Thriston Lawrence 11 $31,250
T65 Taylor Montgomery 12 $31,250
T65 Justin Thomas 12 $29,500
T65 Matt Wallace 12 $29,500
T65 Pablo Larrazabal 12 $29,500
T69 Ben Taylor 13 $28,000
T69 Joel Dahmen 13 $28,000
T69 Yannik Paul 13 $28,000
T72 Taylor Moore 15 $26,500
T72 Tony Finau 15 $26,500
T72 Sam Stevens 15 $26,500
75 Mark Hubbard 18 $25,500
76 Kazuki Higa 20 $25,000

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How each LIV Golf player fared at the 2023 PGA Championship

Of the 16 players to tee it up, 11 made the weekend cut.

One of the big questions facing the players who took their talents to LIV Golf was how would the different schedule and competition level impact their preparation for major champions.

So far, so good.

Three LIV players finished in the top six at the Masters, and of the 16 players who competed at the 2023 PGA Championship, 11 made the weekend cut at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York. Brooks Koepka even went on to win the thing, and he was joined by four other LIV players inside the top 20 on the leaderboard.

Check out how each of the LIV Golf League players fared this week at the 2023 PGA Championship.

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Validation: Brooks Koepka’s road back from a crisis of confidence to 2023 PGA Championship win

The win is Koepka’s fifth major title and first since the 2019 PGA Championship, also held in New York.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – For Claude Harmon III, the biggest surprise was receiving a call from Brooks Koepka last July to help him with his swing again. After more than two years without speaking, Harmon watched him hit balls for 15 minutes at LIV Bedminster in New Jersey, but it was what Koepka said that left a lasting impression.

“I still feel like I can win majors, I still feel like I can be one of if not the best player in the world,” Koepka said. “You know, just gotta get my golf swing doing what I want it to do and just gotta get healthy again.”

Koepka completed a remarkable return to glory, shooting 3-under 67 on Sunday at Oak Hill to win the 105th PGA Championship by two strokes over Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler. In doing so, Koepka became the 20th player to win at least five majors and joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to win the Wanamaker Trophy three times in the stroke-play era.

“This is probably the sweetest one of them all because all the hard work that went into this one, this one is definitely special,” Koepka said. “This one is probably it for me.”

The 33-year-old Koepka was considered washed up, done in by injuries that included a torn patella tendon in August 2019, a hip injury in 2020, and a potentially career-ending injury to his knee cap and patella tendon in March 2021. His short-game coach, Pete Cowen, said Koepka couldn’t compress down on his left side and the result was a two-way miss.

“It was almost game over,” Harmon III said.

No one knows,” Koepka said during his winner’s press conference. “There’s a lot of times where I just couldn’t even bend my knee.”

But he gave the world a window into the self-doubt this supposedly ruthless, emotionless alpha-male was suffering from when he opened up like never before during interviews for “Full Swing,” the Netflix golf docuseries. He admitted he had lost confidence and that it was a tough thing to regain.

“My whole career has gone straight up and then suddenly I’m kind of on, I don’t want to say the other side of it but it’s like, ‘OK, well, we’re going down now.’ This is the worst I’ve ever struggled my whole life. I have to figure out how to get out of this thing before it gets too late,” Keopka said in Full Swing.

Perhaps the best advice of all came from his mom, Denise Jakows, who told him, “Sometimes you just have to put your big boy pants on and get back out there, right?”

“That’s what all the great ones do, right?” Koepka said. “Back’s against the wall, they get it done.”

Koepka’s now-wife, Jena Sims, recalled how in the early years of their relationship, Koepka powered through any struggles but she said, “Now, like In the back of his head, he’s hearing these voices of like, ‘You can’t do this. You won’t do this.’ I do worry about the future.”

What Koepka needed most was to regain his fitness, and one of the positives of joining LIV Golf in June was it allowed him to play less and he had a four-month off-season to rest and rehabilitate. He showed signs that his game was resurfacing, winning twice on LIV Golf, most recently in April in Orlando and held the 54-hole lead at the Masters but admitted he “choked,” shooting 74 and tying for second as Jon Rahm slipped into the Green Jacket.

Harmon told him that this was simply the beginning of Brooks 2.0. “If this is the second phase of your career, it’s a helluva start,” Harmon said.

2023 Masters Tournament
Brooks Koepka reacts as he walks off the No. 13 green during the final round of the 2023 Masters. (Photo: Katie Goodale-USA TODAY Network)

But Koepka took the defeat hard and said he didn’t sleep that night after the Masters. After much soul-searching he came to conclusion that the only thing that really matters when you get knocked down is what happens next.

“Thought about it for a few days after and really honed in on what I was doing and what went wrong,” Koepka said ahead of the PGA. “From there just never let it happen again. That’s the whole goal, right?”

Koepka held a one-stroke lead heading into the final round after shooting 72-66-66. He raced out of the gate, making three consecutive birdies starting at the second hole from inside 10 feet to build a four-stroke lead. He dropped shots at Nos. 6, where he drove in the water, and No. 7 and Hovland remained hot on his heels until late in the championship.

There would be no let up on the second nine. Koepka stuck his approach at No. 10 to 8 feet and rolled in the putt. After a bogey at 11, he knocked his second shot from the rough to 11 feet at the next hole and poured in the birdie putt. After Hovland rolled in a birdie putt at No. 13, Koepka sank a delicate 10-foot downhill putt for par to protect a one-stroke lead.

“When he is holing putts like he is at the moment, he is pretty dangerous,” Cameron Smith, the reigning British Open champion and a fellow LIV Golf member, said.

Koepka kept the gas down, nearly driving the 14th green to set up another birdie and Hovland was working hard just to keep pace. But Hovland finally blinked at 16, driving into a fairway bunker at 16 and embedding his second shot into the lip of the bunker en route to a double bogey. Koepka smelled blood and stuck his approach to 5 feet and made birdie to take a commanding four-stroke lead.

“It sucks right now, but it is really cool to see that things are going the right direction,” said Hovland, who made birdie at the last to tie for second. “If I just keep taking care of my business and just keep working on what I’ve been doing, I think we’re going to get one of these soon.”

A bogey and a par closed it out for Koepka and he signed for a 72-hole total of 9-under 271.

2023 PGA Championship
Brooks Koepka poses with the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club. (Photo: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports)

Australians Cameron Smith and Cam Davis, Austria’s Sepp Straka and Kurt Kitayama tied with Scheffler for the low round of the tournament with 65s. Michael Block, the 46-year-old club pro from Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, capped off his Cinderella story by making a hole-in-one at the 15th hole and shooting 1-over 71. He finished as the low club pro and his T-15 earned an exemption to the 2024 PGA Championship. Among the players he beat were reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm, who entered the tournament as world No. 1 but finished T-50.

“It’s golf,” Rahm said, “when you think, oh, I got this, it kicks you in the mouth, and you have to start over again. It happens to everybody.”

Scheffler’s strong finish vaulted him back to No. 1 in the world ahead of Rahm, but that was little consolation to him.

“Right now I’m a little sad that I wasn’t able to get the tournament done, but I’m proud of how I fought, I’m proud of how I played the back nine today to give myself a chance,” Scheffler said.

How did failure at the Masters lead to Koepka’s validating win at Oak Hill?

“I definitely wouldn’t have, I don’t think, won today if that didn’t happen, right?” he said, but as for what specifically he learned from the defeat, he’s not telling. “Definitely take it and keep using it going forward for each event, each major, any time I’m in contention, but I’m not going to share. I can’t give away all the secrets.”

Whatever promise to himself he kept in the final round, Koepka’s ball-striking clinic over the final 18 belied his frustrating warmup. Heading from the practice tee to the putting green on Sunday before his tee time, Koepka complained to Cowen, who said, “Your 70 percent of swinging (lousy) will still win.”

Cowen said he never doubted that Koepka would win another major because “he’s a man who’s comfortable in uncomfortable moments.” But does Koepka loves the game? Cowen said no, he loves winning and wants to be remembered as an all-time great. “He’ll win a lot more, he’ll want to win all four majors a couple of times,” Cowen said.

For Koepka, who won the U.S. Open twice and the PGA previously in 2018 and 2019, he’s in rare company with five majors and his crisis of confidence seems to be a distant memory. Koepka 2.0 may just be getting started.

“He likes climbing Mount Everest,” Harmon said. “He likes being in the death zone. Everybody says they like being up there. But you got to step over dead bodies to get to the top and then you got to step over dead bodies to get back down.”

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