Koepka wins FedEx St. Jude for first WGC title

By
Mo Yoshimoto,

By
Mo Yoshimoto

Published July 30, 2019 06:30 PM

WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

TPC Southwind

Memphis, Tennessee

FedExCup leader Brooks Koepka hadn’t necessarily taken the World Golf Championships by storm; that is, until Sunday.

There are four of them played each season – just like the majors – and prior to yesterday, had owned five top 10s in 15 tries, a tidy 33.3 percent clip, but no hardware.

The 29-year-old’s previous best – and only top-3 finish – was T2 at last season’s HSBC in China, and also came solo 5^th in this event last season, the swan song as the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone CC in Ohio.

The superlatives describing his takedown of majors, winning four of the last 10 he’s teed it up in, is ever-growing, but they’re real.

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Let’s review.

Last season, the Floridian became just the seventh player all-time to win back-to-back U.S. Opens (in the 118^th edition), first since 1989, and very nearly won three in a row when solo 2^nd last month at Pebble Beach.

This season, the month prior to Pebble Beach, he successfully defended the PGA Championship (in wire-to-wire fashion) at Bethpage Black – the first wire-to-wire winner at the PGA in 36 years – and became the first player ever to simultaneously own two different major championship titles as the defending champ.

These accomplishments, and Koepka’s lore, in major championships is, as stated, ever-growing, and, it didn’t hurt that he was the only player to finish top 5 in all four majors this season, first to do that since Jordan Spieth in 2015 and just the fifth all-time.

Fast-forward to Sunday in Memphis.

The FSU product was already causing a stir even before he struck a shot. Word was spreading quickly that his parking space in the player’s lot was empty with under an hour till his name being called on the first tee.

In the much-hyped, first-ever Sunday pairing with World No. 3 Rory McIlroy, who was the overnight leader by one, he showed up 45 minutes prior, which apparently is customary for him on Sunday’s?

Exactly how long McIlroy’s warm-up was – his face gleaming with perspiration – is unknown, but by the time Koepka joined him there, they were the only two left on the range.

Turns out, Koepka didn’t need any more practice time than that and perhaps, McIlroy took too much time.

Maybe McIlroy should’ve sprinted to the first tee like he infamously did after a police escort at the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah?!

Anyway, Koepka masterfully crafted a care-free, bogey-free, 5-under 32-33=65 to win his first WGC title by three over a hard-charging Webb Simpson, who fired a day-tying-low 64 out of the seventh-to-last pairing for a WGC-best solo 2^nd.

Koepka’s 16-under total (264) was four better than 3^rd-place finisher Marc Leishman (67), and five clear of T4-finishers Tommy Fleetwood (66), second-round leader Matthew Fitzpatrick (69), and pre-tourney co-fave and fellow four-time major champion McIlroy, who sleepwalked to a one-birdie, two-bogey 71.

One player showed up and “showed off” big-time, and his name is Brooks Koepka.

With all his major accomplishments in tow, claiming his first WGC title feels different; at least to this writer.

Koepka is the reigning Player of the Year, well on his way to defending that title as well; increased his margin as the top-ranked player in OWGR; and has already sowed-up the $2M first-place, season-long Wyndham Rewards bonus, awarded at the conclusion of this coming week’s Wyndham Championship, and he doesn’t even have to play in the event – and is not.

In all of Koepka’s now-seven PGA TOUR titles in 122 events, he’s either been first or second after 54 holes, while this was his first come-from-behind version since the 2017 U.S. Open (Erin Hills) and third overall.

It’s his career-high third win of the season in 18 starts, kicking off the campaign with a four-shot win at the no-cut CJ CUP in Korea, and won the PGA on Long Island by two, both of those as the 54-hole leader by 4 and 7, respectively.

Koepka’s updated win percentage, 5.7%, is NOT Tiger-esque (22.7%), and Woods has won 18 WGC’s, but consider this.

In his first 79 events on TOUR, Koepka won one time, the 2015 WM Phoenix Open. He’s now won six times in last 42. That’s 14.2%, so he’s getting there. If we’re not careful, he’ll win all three FedExCup Playoffs events just to show off some more.

Koepka has yet to win a post-season event in 15 tries and has just two top 10s (no top 5s), but something tells me that’s about to change. He hadn’t won any WGC events in 15 prior tries either. By the way, all of Koepka’s eight top 10s this season in 18 starts double as top 5s.

Final Leaderboard (pre-tourney odds outright):

1- (-16, 264) Brooks Koepka (10/1)

2- (-13, 267) Webb Simpson (28/1)

3- (-12, 268) Marc Leishman (66/1)

4- (-11, 269) Tommy Fleetwood (22/1)

4- (-11, 269) Matthew Fitzpatrick (55/1)

4- (-11, 269) Rory McIlroy (9/1)

Note: Repeat top-10 finishers from last year (held at Firestone CC): Koepka (1-5); McIlroy (4-6-5-1); Ian Poulter (8-10)

Koepka’s Position by Round:

R1: T18 (6 back)

R2: T7 (4 back)

R3: 2 (1 back)

Koepka on Sunday:

After kicking off with 68-67-64, he began solo 2^nd, one back.

Playing out of the final twosome, Koepka landed nine (of 14) fairways and 11 greens in regulation, losing 0.704 strokes around-the-green but gaining 0.818 off-the-tee and 0.695 on approach.

He penciled five birdies at holes 3, 5, 6, 10 and 17, four from between eight and 21 feet, posting a sterling 1.545 putts per GIR and 3.652 SG: Putting with 24 total putts.

OUT: 3-under 32 (3 birdies, 0 bogeys); Koepka leads by two (over McIlroy)

IN: 2-under 33 (2 birdies, 0 bogeys); Koepka WINS by three (over Simpson).

How Koepka Won the Tournament:

Ranked 1^st (or T1) in: SG: Putting; Total Bogeys; Birdie to Bogey Ratio; Par-4 Scoring; Scrambling

Ranked 2^nd (or T2) in: All-Around

Note: See “Strokes Gained Leaders Stats” at the bottom, along with his full stats.

Least Important Stat(s): Par-5 Scoring (ranked T48)

Koepka in WGC’s:

Starts: 16

Top 10s: 6 (37.5%)

Wins: 1 (6.2%)

WGC Form (last two seasons): 1-27-56-16-5-2

Koepka at WGC-FedEx St. Jude (formerly Bridgestone) Invitational:

Starts: 5

Top 10s: 3 (60.0%)

Wins: 1 (20.0%)

Form: 1-5-17-WD-6

Koepka’s PGA TOUR Career:

Starts: 122

Cuts Made: 103 (84.4%)

Top 25s: 64 (52.4%)

Top 10s: 38 (31.1%)

Top 3s: 19 (15.5%)

Wins: 7 (5.7%)

Koepka’s TOUR Season:

Starts: 18

Cuts Made: 17

Top 25s: 11

Top 10s: 8

Top 3s: 6

Wins: 3

Season Form (most recent nine): 1-4-65-57-2-50-1-4-22

Season Form (first nine; reverse order): 2-56-56-MC-2-27-24-16-1

Koepka is the season-leader in wins with three. McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Matt Kuchar are T2 with two apiece. He also stays the season-leader in top-5 finishes with eight. McIlroy is 2^nd with seven.

By the Numbers:

572: In his first tournament as the FEC leader, Koepka hauls in 550 more points and leads now-No. 2 McIlroy by 572 points. Hence, with one tourney remaining, he is the regular-season FEC champion.

9/4: Koepka’s revised outright betting entering R4.

11/10: McIlroy’s revised outright betting entering R4.

62: McIlroy’s Moving Day 62 vaulted him 12 spots to lead by one.

64: More importantly, Koepka’s Moving Day 64 moved him five spots to solo 2^nd. As stated above, Koepka has been 1, T1, 2 or T2 in all seven of his TOUR victories.

T4: Koepka arrived off a T4 at last week’s Open Championship to cap-off his major season with T4, 1, 2 and T2.

4: American’s won all four WGC’s this season: HSBC: Xander Schauffele; Mexico: Dustin Johnson; Match Play: Kevin Kisner.

2: Webb Simpson’s solo 2^nd is his fourth top 10 in 18 WGC’s, first since T7 at the 2015 Cadillac (Doral). His previous best was T5 at the 2013 Match Play. It’s also his ninth career runner-up in 279 events and second of the season in 17 starts, joining a T2 three starts ago at the Canadian Open (as 54-hole tri-leader).

3: Marc Leishman’s solo 3^rd tied his best in WGC’s (2014 Bridgestone) and is his sixth top 10 in 21 WGC’s, second in three tries this season (T9, Match Play).

4: Special Temporary Member Matthew Fitzpatrick’s T4 is a WGC best and third top 10 in 15 tries, first of the season in four tries. His prior best was T7 at the 2016 HSBC in his WGC debut.

4: Tommy Fleetwood’s T4 is his second straight top-5 finish, arriving off solo 2^nd at last week’s Open. It’s his fourth top 10 in 16 WGC’s, second of the season in four tries (T7, HSBC).

T9: Billy Horschel’s T9 is his first top 10 in 15 WGC’s, eclipsing a previous-best T11 at the HSBC back in October. It’s his third top 10 of the season in 23 starts, first since T9 at the Memorial four starts ago.

T20: Pre-tourney co-fave and winner of the 2019 WGC-Mexico Dustin Johnson finished T20, 11 adrift. DJ hasn’t had a top-10 finish in his last five starts this season after racking up seven in his first 11.

22: DJ and Spieth led the field in total birdies with 22 apiece and finished T20 and T12, respectively. #TooManyBogeysOrWorse

1: Woods, No. 1 in all-time earnings in this event (by nearly $8 million), took a pass.

57: Koepka entered No. 57 in all-time earnings in this event and jumped to 10^th, $8.73 million behind 8-time champ Woods.

2: Through 42 non-team events this season, the pre-tourney fave/co-fave has won two times: Rory McIlroy (12/1 co-fave) at THE PLAYERS and Collin Morikawa, who won this week’s alternate-field Barracuda as a 10/1 fave outright.

8: Special Temporary Member Morikawa won his tourney debut in Reno in just his eighth career event, sixth as a pro. It’s his third straight top-5 finish and with the win, is now eligible for the Playoffs.