Brooks Koepka shows Rory McIlroy who rules PGA Tour with WGC victory

What started as an exciting duel between two of golf’s best players on Sunday turned into a coronation for Brooks Koepka at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

The much-anticipated Sunday showdown between Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational instead turned into a Memphis massacre.

Koepka, the world’s No. 1 ranked player, outclassed playing partner McIlroy on his way to a five-under round of 65 and a three-shot victory at TPC Southwind.

McIlroy, coming off a tearful missed cut at the Open Championship last week, rebounded nicely to take the lead into Sunday at 12-under. But it would be a frustrating day for the Northern Irishman. He missed a short three-foot putt for birdie at the par-five third hole and never recovered. After 11 straight pars, he made bogey at the 12th hole for the third time this week after failing to get up-and-down from a greenside bunker. He made birdie at the 14th, his only one of the round, before another bogey at the 15th to shoot one-over 71 and fall to a tie for fourth place at 11-under. Birdie opportunities were few and far between for McIlroy. The 18-foot putt he made at the 14th was the only one he made outside of five feet all round.

Koepka, meanwhile, playing with McIlroy on Sunday for the first time, did birdie the third to tie for the lead and never looked back. He hit his approach at the fifth hole from 184 yards to within five feet and made the putt to go two-under. He followed with another birdie at the sixth and made the turn at three-under and leading McIlroy by two shots. After another birdie from eight feet at the 10th and from 12 feet at the 17th, he finished the tournament at 16-under, three shots ahead of runner-up Webb Simpson.

The win is Koepka’s seventh PGA Tour title and third of the season. But it’s only his third win outside of the major championships. For all of his brilliance on the game’s biggest stages, Koepka has earned a reputation for failing to take seriously the regular PGA Tour stops. In 2019 he finished in the top-four at all the majors, only the fourth player in history to do that, including his fourth major at the PGA Championship. In his last eight non-major starts, however, he’s been inside the top-10 just once. He had finished 65th, 57th and 50th in his last three.

Koepka, though, has never displayed the all-round game he showed this week at TPC Southwind. He came into the week ranked 101st and 58th on tour in putting and scrambling, respectively, but led the field the last four days in both categories.

The duel between Koepka and McIlroy, two of the game’s most powerful and exciting players, never materialized, but Koepka was still full of praise for McIlroy afterward.

“I know it’s what everybody wanted. I think it would’ve been incredible if it would’ve been us going down 18 and somebody having to make a putt at the last,” he said at his post-victory press conference. “That would’ve been incredible for the fans, for everybody that showed up. I’m sure that’s what everybody wanted. Rory didn’t play the way he wanted to today, but it’s so much fun watching him play.”

“It’s always nice to squeak out a victory against probably the best player right now.”

If Koepka wants to see the best player in the world, though, he only has to look in the mirror. His triumph over McIlroy and the rest of the star-studded field in Memphis this week shows he’s the most dominant player in golf today. He and McIlroy may have been competing against each other on Sunday for the first time today. Fortunately for golf fans, it probably won’t be the last.