PGA Championship 2023: Brooks Koepka Becomes 1st LIV Golfer to Win Major Title

Brooks Koepka etched his name in golf history Sunday by becoming the 20th men's competitor to win five major championships.

Not only that, but he became the first LIV golfer to capture a major championship, as ESPN's Mark Schlabach noted.

Koepka shot a three-under 67 in the final round of the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, to outlast Viktor Hovland and finish minus-nine for the tournament for a two-stroke win.

It was the third time since 2018 the 33-year-old won the PGA Championship, and he earned some redemption this time around after he lost his 54-hole lead in the final round of this year's Masters. Whether he could hold off Hovland and the rest of the field on Sunday after losing out to Jon Rahm in the Masters was the day's biggest storyline.

And everything was still hanging in the balance until the 16th hole.

Hovland was down just a single stroke when he hit his second shot of the hole into the fairway bunker's lip in a tournament-deciding sequence. He ended up with a double-bogey while Koepka calmly birdied, and a one-stroke lead suddenly swelled to four as all the drama was eliminated.

It was a difficult break for Hovland, who was going for the first major title of his career after a top-10 finish at this year's Masters.

Hovland deserves credit for battling through Koepka's initial wave of birdies on Nos. 2, 3 and 4 during a red-hot start. It seemed like the eventual victor was going to run away with things until two bogeys in a row on Nos. 6 and 7 opened the door as Hovland found his touch with birdies on Nos. 4 and 5.

The pair exchanged momentum during a back-and-forth swing that saw Koepka birdie Nos. 10, 12 and 14 and Hovland do the same on 13 and 14.

Yet the decisive 16th hole not only cost the challenger his opportunity to come back against Koepka, it also helped Scottie Scheffler climb into a tie for second place. The Players Championship winner caught fire with six birdies on the final 12 holes as he bounced back from a disappointing 73 during his third round.

While Koepka won the tournament, Hovland threatened and Scheffler turned in another brilliant showing, the story of the tournament might have been Michael Block.

The club pro became a crowd favorite while competing with the sport's best players and then stunned the golfing world with a hole in one on the 15th. It earned a hug from playing partner Rory McIlroy and, along with a cold-blooded par putt on the 18th, helped him finish in a tie for 15th place.

That placement was important because he earned a spot in next year's PGA Championship as a result.

Jack Bantock of CNN noted he became the first PGA Professional to finish inside the top-40 since 2005.

Yet Block and everyone else was left looking up at Koepka as he became a five-time major champion.