Koepka gets revenge with Player Of The Year award

Less than 24-hours after Rory McIlroy cut fellow four-time Major winner Brooks Koepka down to size in capturing the Tour Championship/FedEx Cup victory double, the American has got one back on the new World No. 2.

Koepka, for a second straight season, has been named 2019 PGA of America ‘Player of the Year’.

Brooks Koepka (Credit: PGA Tour)

While the PGA Tour decides its ‘Player of the Year’ award via a player vote, the PGA of America utilises a points system that awards points for wins, scoring average and placement on the season-long money list.

Koepka’s three-win season, which included a successful title defense at the PGA Championship and a WGC win in Memphis, earned him 84 points, while McIlroy’s three-win campaign, highlighted by victories at The Players and the Tour Championship, helped him to a 78-point total.

McIlroy won the Vardon Trophy for the lowest season-long scoring average, while Koepka topped the official money list which concluded before last week’s Tour Championship.

McIlroy, who pocketed $15 million for Sunday’s victory at East Lake in Atlanta, earned the PGA’s prestigious Vardon Trophy for the third time.

McIlroy brilliantly denied Koepka the opportunity to crown his season with victory at the Tour Championship on Sunday after the ‘not-so-popular’ Koepka stumbled horribly over his final round.

Koepka led by one shot heading into the fourth round but produced plenty of hiccups over the final round including losing a ball in posting a double-bogey early in his round for an eventual 2-over 72 to settle for a share of third at five shots behind McIlroy.