SCOTTSDALE, Arizona. – At the lowest points of an 18-month struggle with left knee and hip problems, Brooks Koepka wondered if he would ever return, let alone regain the magic that led him to four major championships.
“It’s been a wild journey for the last year and a half and very frustrating,” Koepka said. “I’ve had times when I didn’t know if I was going to be the same, if I could even come back.”
He looked as good as ever on the new Sunday last at the Phoenix Open for Waste Management, coming together for a win that didn’t seem possible long ago.
“I went through it mentally,” Koepka said. “I think it’s probably the hardest part, where you don’t know if you’ll ever be the same competitor you were. You go through some real dark places and it’s not a fun place to be.”
It was a sunny and fun Sunday in the desert, especially in the 17th hole. This was where he exploded from 32 yards for his second eagle of the day to break the tie at the lead. A routine pair on the 18th gave him a 1-stroke victory.
Five strokes behind Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele entering the round, Koepka shot a 6- to 65-year-old to finish 19-25. He also won the 2015 TPC Scottsdale for the first of his eight PGA titles. Tour.
The 5-time comeback was the biggest of all tournament winners in the past two seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
On the 17th of 334 yards, Koepka hit a fairway wood 305 yards to the short fairway and to the left of the green, and then came out to the biggest roar of the day for people limited to 5,000 a day.
“I felt like the chip, if I just took it on the sidelines, I would check it out and do it perfectly,” he said. “I took a good right kick and looked nowhere but in the hole.”
People were a fraction of the usual size, but the largest on the tour during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I missed the fans,” Koepka said. “Just being around the fans is something else. I love it. I’ve played my best golf with the fans, so I only have to find something when they’re not there.”
Coming out of one of three consecutive failed cuts, worst in the race, Koepka bounced from a bogey to the second with a 24-foot eagle placed in the third par-5 and numbers 13, 14 and 15.
“I live for those times when you have to close, you have to hit some quality shots, quality putts,” Koepka said. “I guess I just like to show off.”
Schauffele watched the par-4 18 for a 71 to tie the 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,” Schauffele said. “I felt like I was pretty patient all day.”
Lee observed 17 to shoot inside one of Koepka’s, but went right into par-4 18 and made his 34-foot bird try to slide down the high side.
“I’m very excited this week,” Lee said. “All good (irons, driver, birdieing, everything) and lots of savings.”
Steve Stricker, the 53-year-old Ryder Cup captain who was trying to become the oldest PGA Tour winner, finished with a 67 to tie for fourth with Spieth (72) and Carlos Ortiz (64) at 17 years old.
“It was a lot of fun,” Stricker said. “That’s why I come to play in these. I haven’t shown it yet, but lately I’ve been playing better. I also feel a little better physically.”
Spieth and Schauffele fought from the start, with Spieth heading the first hole after almost leading to a desert bush. They each had two bogeys in the front again, with Schauffele the only bird between the two in the front of number 9.
Schauffele and Spieth went out into the water on the 17th to finish their chances, and both observed 18.
Spieth fired 61 on Saturday for part of the lead. Without a win since the 2017 Open, the 27-year-old Texan is trying to regain the form that led him to 11 PGA Tour victories, three of them major, in his first five tour seasons.
So Spieth can take advantage of fourth place after considering skipping the tournament completely.
“I just wanted to go home and I felt like I was very far from where I needed to be,” Spieth said, “and this golf course in general isn’t a fantastic golf course for me historically, so I thought he could then enter Pebble [Beach] a little cooler. Boy, I’m glad I came. “
James Hahn, with 3 strokes ahead in the middle of the round, avoided four of the last eight holes by a 69. He finished 10th to 15th below.
ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss and The Associated Press contributed to this report.