Singapore LIV win a boost for Brooks Koepka’s US PGA title defence
Individual champion captain Brooks Koepka after his LIV tour win in Singapore. Photo: AP
Brooks Koepka is feeling good about his chances of retaining the PGA Championship next week after claiming LIV Singapore and his first win of the season.
The five-time Major winner closed with a three-under 68 at Sentosa Golf Club for a two-stroke win on 15-under over Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman, who took the team title with compatriots Matt Jones and Lucas Herbert.
“It’s all starting to come around,” said Koepka who has successfully defended his Major titles twice before. “I like the way things are trending.”
Koepka will be joined at Valhalla by Spain’s Adrian Otaegui, who overturned a five-shot deficit to secure his fifth DP World Tour title at the Volvo China Open.
He shot a seven-under 65 to win by a shot from Guido Migliozzi on 18-under, catapulting him to third on the Asian Swing Rankings to earn his PGA spot alongside rankings winner Sebastian Soderberg and Japan’s Keita Nakajima, who finished second.
In amateur golf, Castleknock’s Paul Coughlan cruised to an impressive four-stroke win in the F45 Elysian Munster Men’s Amateur Open at Cork Golf Club.
Coughlan went into the final two rounds six strokes behind Carton House’s Darragh Flynn on two-under but followed a bogey-free five-under 67 to with a 69 to win by four shots from Millicent’s Brian Doran on 10-under 278.
Flynn was third on five-under with West of Ireland champion Keith Egan fourth on three-under and Douglas’ James Walsh, the U-25 winner, fifth on two-under.
“After the West and a couple of other events I really needed to get one over the line for my own headspace,” said Coughlan, who lost on the 24th in the semi-finals at Rosses Point to eventual runner-up David Brady.
In the Lytham Trophy, Malone’s Matt McClean was the leading Irish finisher in tied 13th on five-over.
That was six shots outside a three-hole aggregate play-off that saw England’s Will Hopkins shoot one-under to overcome Welshmen Tomi Bowen and James Ashfield.
