Brooks Koepka 2019 PGA Champion

The PGA Championship is always a special major for me. As a member of the PGA of America this is our opportunity to showcase our association and the great people that run the PGA. Typically the PGA Championship is played as the fourth and final major of the year but has been moved up in the season to accommodate the PGA Tour schedule. When the final putt of the tournament was hit it was Brooks Koepka once again that showed his major dominance. He has now won the last two PGA Championships in addition to the last two US Opens. Brooks doesn’t look to be slowing down even after a “rough” final round back 9. In the end he was able to outlast Dustin Johnson and win by 2 shots. Bethpage Black showed its true character in more ways than one. Through-out the week there was a lot of talk about the course, the fans, the concessions, and the 2024 Ryder Cup but the golf course did not disappoint. Brooks Koepka is on top of the golf world and no one is even close to catching him when it comes to the majors.

The Stats That Count Brooks Koepka dominated in 3 major stat categories this past week. The first stat that I look at is greens and regulation and Brooks was ranked first with hitting 73.6% of his GIRs. Greens in regulation is only good if your proximity to the hole is close enough to make birdies and avoid three putts. Brooks was able to not only hit greens but hit it close to the hole. He averaged 30’1” from the hole and was ranked 2nd for the week. These two stats are all setup with driving performance. Koepka is known to be a long drive hitter and with an average driving distance of 304 yards he was ranked 3rd. These 3 categories allowed him to gain 2.38 strokes on the field with approach shots and 4.63 strokes gained total. Brooks dominated in the key stats that counted for this course.  The Winning Swing Brooks Koepka has an incredible swing. He generates over 122 mph of club head speed and his longest drive of the season is 412 yards! Koepka’s swing is built to last and I expect him to be on top of the leaderboards continuously.