2022 LIV Golf in Jeddah standings: Brooks Koepka wins third playoff hole over Peter Uihlein

For the first time in over a year, Brooks Koepka won. Attending the 2022 LIV Golf in Jeddah event on Sunday, Koepka finished 12th under and needed three playoff holes to get past his teammate and 36-hole leader Peter Uihlein at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club. Together in the final day, the two members of Smash GC went through ups and downs.

Starting the day off with a quick miss from Uihlein, Koepka quickly took the lead as his competitor hit a brace and bogey on his first three holes. The four-time major champion remained steady in his outs, and eventually drew 1 under before adding another birdie in 10 to take a two-stroke lead ahead of Uihlein, Sergio Garcia and a large group of men. pursue.

Only then did Koepka begin to experience some troubles of her own. Performed three times in a row from sentences 11-13, the 33-year-old’s name dropped down the rankings. An unlikely birdie from the desert at par-4 15 sent Koepka back to a straight, narrow line before he added another birdie on the 54th hole alongside Uilhein to knock out Garcia and Joaquin Niemann in 11th place.

The two exchanged birdies on the first two extra holes, but disaster struck for Uihlein on the third playoff hole when he hit his third shot from the beachside bunker into the water. Leaving the door open for Koepka, the Smash GC captain continued his march and took his first win on LIV Golf with another bird.

“The past two years, they’ve been unhappy. It’s been a long way, I’m excited,” Koepka said. “My whole team, we brought the band back together, literally. We have Claude. [Harmon] in the team, Peter [Cowen] – I worked with Pete very, very hard – and Jeff [Pierce] as well, so thank them, this is for them.

“I don’t know if my career will be over for half a second. I told Claude I’m not sure if I’m going to play. It’s nice to be able to come back and win.”

Koepka not only won personally, but also led his team to the first victory. While Brooks was the star of the show, it was his younger brother Chase who provided the stability as his scores were used in every round. With the win, Smash GC has moved up to fifth place in the team standings – coming close to saying goodbye in the first round of the Team Championship – and will be the first to pick an opponent in the quarterfinals. for the LIV Golf finale in two weeks. .

Team leaderboard

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What’s next for LIV Golf?

The Team Championships will take place October 28-30 at the Trump National Doral in Miami. The four teams Aces, Crushers, Fireballs and Stingers all said their goodbyes on the first day of competition while the teams ranked 5-12 will advance to the quarterfinals.

Koepka’s Smash GC is the fifth seed, and as such will have the first chance to choose the opponent it wants to face. This selection process will continue for Majesticks, Torque GC and Hy Flyers. Teams will play three matches – two singles and one rotation – in the first two days of the championship before proceeding to stroke play where the scores of all four members will be counted.