Brooks Koepka's major win is a “huge thing” for LIV Golf as he closes in on Ryder Cup selection

While Cameron Smith joined the Saudi-funded circuit after winning the Open Championship at St Andrews, Koepka is the first LIV player to win a major after lifting the Wanamaker Trophy for the third time - and is now in an extremely strong position to qualify for the Ryder Cup.

Koepka carded a closing 67 to finish two shots ahead of Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler and claim his fifth major title, six weeks after failing to convert the 54-hole lead in the Masters.

“Yeah, I definitely think it helps LIV, but I’m more interested in my own self right now, to be honest with you,” Koepka said.

“Yeah, it’s a huge thing for LIV, but at the same time I’m out here competing as an individual at the PGA Championship. I’m just happy to take this home for the third time.

“To win a major is always a big deal no matter where you’re playing. All it does, I just think, validates it for myself.

“I guess maybe if anybody doubted it from Augusta or whatever, any doubts anybody on TV might have or whatever, I’m back, I’m here.”

LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman congratulated Koepka on Twitter, writing: “Congrats @BKoepka your comeback has been impressive. I am so proud of you.

“As for the @livgolf_league players they belong and the Majors and golf knows. 3 LIV Golfers in the top 10, 5 in the top 20, 11 made the cut.”

Bryson DeChambeau finished in a tie for fourth and Smith was joint ninth, with fellow LIV Golf players Mito Pereira and Patrick Reed part of a five-way tie for 18th.

Ryder Cup selection?

It would be another huge boost for LIV Golf to have one of its players competing in the Ryder Cup - but as far as Koepka is concerned, there may be no need for a wild card now.

Koepka has jumped from 22nd to second in the Ryder Cup standings, with the top six qualifying automatically and Zach Johnson selecting six wild cards.

And his place on the team, despite playing on the Saudi-funded LIV circuit, was immediately welcomed by one of the men he had just beaten into second place.

Scottie Scheffler said: “I want to win the Ryder Cup. I don’t care about tours or anything like that. It’s something we talked about when we finished (at Whistling Straits) a year and a half ago. We want to beat those guys in Europe. It’s been a long time since we’ve beat them.

“Whoever the best 12 guys are that make a complete team, it’s different than individual tournaments. We want a team of guys that are going over there together to bring the cup back home, and that’s all I really care about.”

Bouncing back

Koepka is just the 20th man in history to have won five or more majors, matching the totals of Seve Ballesteros, Peter Thomson, Byron Nelson, JH Taylor and James Braid, the latter pair each winning five Open titles before 1913.

The chances of Koepka again becoming a dominant force in majors – he won four in eight starts at his peak – looked exceedingly slim as he suffered a number of career-threatening injuries.

He rushed back from surgery after shattering his kneecap in order to compete in the 2021 Masters, but missed the cut and did so again 12 months later, revealing this year at Augusta that had prompted him to try to punch out the back window of his car in frustration.

Koepka also admitted his decision to join LIV would have been harder if he had been fully fit at the time, while confessing on the Netflix documentary ‘Full Swing’ that he would “pay back every dollar I ever made” to regain the feeling of winning a major for another hour.

“It’s very hard to explain,” the former world number one said. “I mean, it was a lot worse than I let on to you guys, let on to everybody. I think maybe only five, six people really know the extent of it, all the pain.

“There’s a lot of times where I just couldn’t even bend my knee. The swelling didn’t go down until maybe a couple months ago, so that’s almost, what, two years? It’s been a long road.

“But look, that’s who I am. I’m open and honest. I know I seem like this big, bad, tough guy on the golf course that doesn’t smile, doesn’t do anything, but if you catch me off the golf course, I’ll let you know what’s going on.”

Asked if he considered retiring when at his lowest ebb, Koepka said: “I don’t know if I considered retiring, but I knew if I couldn’t play the way I wanted to play then I was definitely going to give it up.

“I mean, the thought definitely kind of crossed my mind.”