“It's nice to be able to come back” - Brooks Koepka finishes LIV Golf’s inaugural season with a win

Brooks Koepka holed a birdie putt on the third hole of the playoffs to win the LIV Golf Jeddah event on Sunday. The four-time major winner defeated Peter Uihlein to claim his first win since February 2021. The play-off victory in Saudi Arabia came as a major win for Koepka, having struggled with injuries in recent years.

Koepka, who opened the event with an 8-under-par 62, was overtaken by Uihlein on Saturday. However, he came back to shoot a 69 on Sunday to tie at 12 under with Uihlein. The 32-year-old American golfer came out on top at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club as he finished the game on the third extra hole.

---

After a dry spell, Brooks Koepka celebrates first victory at LIV Golf Jeddah

Brooks Koepka’s win over close friend and American compatriot Peter Uihlein was his first victory on the breakaway tour. Koepka was on top of his opponents throughout the weekend. Following the win, the golfer came out to state that the win meant a lot to him as it came after a major dry spell in his career.

The former top-ranked player got emotional after the win. Speaking about it in Jeddah, Koepka revealed that he feared for his career to end soon due to struggles with injury.

Speaking to on-course analyst Dom Boulet at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, Brooks Koepka said:

"The last two years haven't been fun. It's been a long road. I’m super excited. My whole team, we got the band back together, literally, a couple months ago. We got Claude back on the team; and Pete — I’ve worked with Pete very, very hard; and Jeff as well. So a shout-out to them. This is for them.”

He further lowered his head. An emotional Koepka continued:

“I didn't know if my career was over for a half-second. So, it's nice to be able to come back and be able to win."

It is pertinent to note that there was a four-way tie for the lead on the final hole on Sunday. Brooks Koepka had to fight and overcome a string of three straight bogeys at nos. 11-13 before finishing off his 69. While Koepka and Uihlein birdied the par-5 18th to get to 12 under, Chile's Joaquin Niemann (65) and Spain's Sergio Garcia (68) tied for third at 11 under.

The final day was as interesting as it got as Matthew Wolff (66), Dustin Johnson (67), and England's Paul Casey (68) all put on a strong showing towards the end. With the win, Koepka cemented second place in the season standings. The second spot finish landed him another $8 million in bonuses. This is apart from the $4 million prize for the event. Meanwhile, Uihlein settled for the third spot in the standings to win a $4 million bonus.

Moreover, Uihlein and Brooks Koepka’s top 2 finish saw their team, Smash GC, take the win. The team, completed by Koepka's brother Chase Koepka and Jason Kokrak, emerged victorious in the team competition this weekend. The win comes as a big boost for the them seated seventh in the LIV Golf team standings.

LIV golfers will now head to the final event of the inaugural season in Miami, where the top teams will play for the team championship title.