Woodland Vanquishes Koepka, Delivers Vintage Pebble Beach Win

Woodland joined the pantheon of Pebble Beach champions – Nicklaus, Watson, Woods, Tom Kite and Graeme McDowell – by vanquishing golf’s terminator. Koepka came into the week a Major machine, a winner of four of his last eight Majors, including the past two U.S. Opens. Koepka started the final round four back of Woodland in a tie for third place before entering Major mode, rattling off four birdies in his first five holes.

“Brooks is unbelievable,” conceded Woodland, who picked up his fourth career win on the PGA TOUR. “He lives for this moment. And obviously what he’s done the last couple of years is phenomenal.”

But Woodland never wavered as he pulled off shots that summoned nostalgic memories of Pebble Beach’s greatest U.S. Open moments. It was like he was beating levels of a video game, advancing through his final round after conquering iconic moments of Pebble Beach past.

After finding himself over the seventh green in a tiny pot bunker, just to the right of the spot Kite chipped in during the final round of the 1992 U.S. Open, Woodland scared the hole with his blast before pouring in a 7-footer for a clutch sandy par.

Bogeys on Nos. 9 and 12 dropped Woodland to even-par on the day and within one of Koepka as he reached the 14^th hole, a par-5 infamous for slaying title chances. But Woodland smashed the shot of his life, carrying the gaping bunker in front of the green and somehow stopping his ball just past hole-high – no easy feat with a lob wedge, let alone a 3-wood.

“To execute that shot under pressure, in that situation, it gave me the confidence I needed,” Woodland reflected. “I felt better after hitting that shot than I had in a long, long time.”

Woodland needed one more magical shot to secure his first Major, but instead he delivered two. Studying his options some 90 feet right of the hole at No. 17, with rough and a raised hog’s back directly in his line, Woodland went for a gutsy chip — from the edge of the green. He nipped the nervy pitch perfectly, and watched as it checked up inches from the hole.

“If I putted it, I don’t think I could have got within 20 feet,” Woodland admitted.

A bogey there, coupled with a seemingly inevitable Koepka birdie at No. 18, would have tied the championship.

“All day, Brooks was knocking on the door,” said Woodland, who was playing one group behind Koepka. “I was proud of myself for staying in my moment and controlling myself and not get too worried about what he was doing.”

As Woodland salvaged his par, Koepka’s second shot at No. 18 bounded through the green. Woodland then watched from the 18^th tee as Koepka’s 9-foot birdie try peeled off to the Pacific.

“I played great,” said a gracious Koepka, who has finished first or second in each of his last four Majors. “I hit every shot that I wanted to. And sometimes no matter how good your good is, it isn’t there. Nothing I could do. Gary played a great four days.”

Sitting at 12-under and two clear of Koepka, Woodland safely found the 18^th green in three, setting up three putts from 30 feet to win the championship. Or one putt to beat Woods.

Woodland raised his putter 3 feet before his birdie disappeared, turning to the crowd with his hands raised as he soaked in the historic moment.

“For that putt to go in, it was amazing,” said Woodland, who was one of 31 players to finish under par. “I was a little excited. I know Tiger shot 12-under in 2000. To finish 13-under was pretty cool.”

What a way to join the exclusive fraternity of U.S. Open champions at Pebble Beach.