Brooks Koepka savours beating Rory McIlroy to Memphis victory
Monday 29 July 2019 12:18, UK
Brooks Koepka savoured the opportunity to defeat Rory McIlroy on his way to a maiden World Golf Championship title at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
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Koepka extended his advantage at the top of the world rankings with a three-shot win at TPC Southwind, posting a bogey-free 65 to pull clear of the chasing pack on the final day.
The world No 1 started Sunday a shot off the pace and out in the final group alongside McIlroy, the first time the pair had played together during the final round of a tournament, only to race ahead with three birdies in his first six holes.
As McIlroy struggled to a final-round 71 to end the week in a share of fourth, Koepka increased his lead with birdies at the 10th and 17th on his way to a third victory of the PGA Tour season.
"It's always fun to battle Rory," Koepka told Sky Sports. "He's a fun player to watch and you can watch him hit ball all day. He's a true competitor and to win it against him today was special.
"I thought early on that if I could make a few putts and try to catch up to Rory by nine, or have a little bit of a lead, it would be big.
"Once I got off to that start I was flying. I played really solid. The goal was to make no bogeys and I came out bogey-free so I'm really pleased with it."
Webb Simpson fired a round-of-the-day 64 to finish second ahead of Marc Leishman, with Tommy Fleetwood ended the week five shots off the pace in tied-fourth alongside McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick.
World Golf Championships
"It was a really solid day," Fleetwood said. "You're always going to look at it and think a couple more putts could have gone, because I think I gave myself three or four good chances from 10, 12 feet.
"Hole a couple of those and you're right up there. Overall, it's just another really good week, another solid week of golf. Just consistent results.
"We know Sundays in contention are difficult even for the best players in the world and you've still got to go out there and finish it off. I would have liked a couple more, but you can't be too disappointed."
