PGA Championship: Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau turned boos into contention

LIV Golf players Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau were greeted with boos at the PGA Championship but ignored them to fight into contention.

Two LIV Golf players are sitting in the Top 4 as we head into the final day of the 2023 PGA Championship.

Brooks Koepka played the round of the day by squeezing past Canadian Correy Connors —w ho seemed to have had a safe lock on the lead up until the back nine at Oak Hill Country Club — with a 66, a 4-under for the day that gave him a leading 6-under at the end of a miserable, rain-soaked day.

Three strokes down from him is his LIV peer, Bryson DeChambeau, who is down one stroke after previously leading after the first day.

A slimmed-down DeChambeau has been in a rare, rejuvenated form from the outset of the PGA major this year. It’s been two years since his last win at the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational. The 29-year-old has struggled on the LIV tour, where he has been winless, except for a team victory for his Crushers group, which won the first LIV tournament in Mayakoba this year.

Much of his struggles had to do with the wrist surgery he had in April of last year. With a major weight loss unveiled at the PGA Championship at the Oak Hill Country Club, it seems that a resurgent Bryson DeChambeau is rearing to go.

But not everyone is celebrating the success of these LIV golfers. When Koepka and DeChambeau stepped up to the first tee of the day, they were met with an uncharacteristic litany of boos, which surprised commentator Jim Nantz, among many others.

“Most strange, completely uncalled for,” Ewen Murray said on Sky Sports, according to Golf Monthly.

Murray later tweeted: “We were quite surprised at that. Many would be. Two fine players and thoroughly decent men.”

You can read the rest of the shocked reactions here.

PGA Championship boos don’t stop LIV Golf’s Brooks Koepka, Bryson Dechambeau

Anticipation had already been high regarding the two players teeing off together, based on their infamous rivalry, which they’ve now put far behind them. The opening reaction was certainly completely unexpected and their shared experience will probably continue to cement their current friendlier terms.

Both major winners seemed to let the cold reception roll off their backs, instead maintaining their focus and keeping their mind on the play at hand. Brooks Koepka clocked in five birdies for the day, while Bryson DeChambeau managed to get three birdies on his scorecard, despite his disastrous double bogey on the sixth.

As the day went on, both players received plenty of approbation from the crowd, with Brooks Koepka especially rallying the fans with a thrilling birdie on the 17th hole.

Let’s hope we won’t see a repeat of the rude behavior that greeted these two great golfers when they tee up on the final day of play. Their exemplary play on Saturday was only worth of praise.

The final day of golf for the PGA Championship will air on CBS at 1:00 p.m.

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