SCOTTSDALE, Arizona. – At the lowest points of an 18-month fight with problems with his left knee and hip, Brooks Koepka wondered if he would ever return, let alone recapture the magic that led him to four major championships.
“It has been a wild journey for the past year and a half and very frustrating,” said Koepka. “I’ve had moments when I didn’t know if it would be the same, if I could at least come back.”
He looked as good as ever at back nine on Sunday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, fighting for a win that didn’t seem possible not so long ago.
“I went through it mentally,” said Koepka. “I think this is probably the most difficult thing, where you don’t know if you will ever be the same competitor as you were. You go through some really dark places and it’s not a fun place to be.”
It was a sunny and fun Sunday in the desert, especially at the 17th hole. That’s when he contributed 32 yards to his second eagle of the day to break the lead. A routine pair on the 18th gave him the victory by 1 stroke.
Five strokes behind Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele entering the round, Koepka hit a 6-under 65 to finish in 19-under 265. He also won in 2015 at TPC Scottsdale for the first of his eight PGA Tour titles.
The 5-stroke recovery was the biggest of any tournament winner in the past two seasons, according to the ESPN Stats & Information survey.
On the 17th of 334 yards, Koepka hit a fairway wood 305 yards for the short fairway and to the left of the green, then made the hole for the biggest roar of the day from the crowd limited to 5,000 a day.
“I felt like the chip, if I took it right on time, it would check me and it worked perfectly,” he said. “He gave me a good right kick and he didn’t look anywhere else but the hole.”
The crowd was a fraction of the normal size, but it was the largest during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I missed the fans,” said Koepka. “Being close to the fans is another thing. I love it. I’ve played my best golf with the fans, so I just need to find something when they’re not there.”
After three consecutive cuts, the worst of his career, Koepka recovered from a bogey in the second with a 24-foot eagle stroke in the third par 5 and birdied us. 13, 14 and 15.
“I live for those times when you need to close, hit some quality shots, quality shots,” said Koepka. “I just like to show off, I think.”
Schauffele birdied the par 4 in 18th for a 71 to tie for second with Kyoung-Hoon Lee (68). The fourth-placed Schauffele tied for second last week at Torrey Pines.
“It was a good day to learn from some mistakes,” said Schauffele. “I felt like I was very patient all day.”
Lee birdied 17 to pull inside of a Koepka, but drove to the brute right on par 4 18 and had his 34 foot birdie trying to slide on the high side.
“I’m really excited this week,” said Lee. “Okay – irons, driver, birdieing, everything – and lots of defenses.”
Steve Stricker, the 53-year-old US Ryder Cup captain who was trying to become the oldest winner on the PGA Tour, closed with 67 points to tie fourth with Spieth (72) and Carlos Ortiz (64) with 17 below.
“It was really fun,” said Stricker. “That’s the reason why I still come to play with these. I haven’t shown that in the past, but I’ve been playing better lately. Feeling a little better physically too.”
Spieth and Schauffele fought from the start, with Spieth bogeying the first hole after almost hitting a desert bush. Each had two bogeys in the first nine, with Schauffele being the only birdie between the two in front of No. 9.
Schauffele and Spieth plunged each other into the water on the 17th to end their chances, then both shot 18.
Spieth hit 61 on Saturday from a part of the leadership. With no wins since the 2017 Open, the 27-year-old Texan is trying to resume the form that led him to 11 wins on the PGA Tour – three of them bigger – in his first five seasons on the tour.
Therefore, a fourth place is something that Spieth can build after considering skipping the tournament.
“I just potentially wanted to go home and I felt like I was really far from where I needed to be,” said Spieth, “and this golf course in general is not a great golf course for me historically, so I thought I could then go to Pebble [Beach] a little cooler. Boy, am I glad you came. “
James Hahn, with 3 strokes ahead in the middle of the round, bogeyed four of the last eight holes for a 69. He finished 10th to 15th below.
Josh Weinfuss of ESPN and The Associated Press contributed to this report.