Brooks Koepka becomes first FSU golfer to reach No. 1

Brooks Koepka will be crowned the new No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time of his career after winning the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges early Sunday morning. Koepka (-21) made eagle on the final hole to secure a 4-stroke victory over Gary Woodland. He’ll move up two spots, replacing his close friend Dustin Johnson on top. At the moment, Justin Rose is ranked #2. Justin Thomas and Rory Mcllroy round out the top-5.

The tournament was Koepka’s first since winning PGA TOUR Player of the Year. During the windy 1st round, Koepka shot 71, but he rebounded with a 7-under par 65 Friday, moving him within one shot of leader Scott Piercy. In Round 3, Koepka increased his chances of winning when he shot a bogey-free 67, giving him a four-stroke lead, the largest 54-hole lead of his short career. In the final-round, Woodland attempted to play spoiler, but Koepka finished emphatically with a 64 (29 on back-9!) for a total of 267. Woodland (-17) was runner-up and followed by Ryan Palmer and Rafa Cabrera-Bello (-15), and Jason Day and Scott Piercy (-12)

Perhaps the biggest moment of the final day occurred on the 16th hole with Koepka seemingly in trouble. He drove it in a fairway bunker and missed the green. He needed to get up and down for par. That’s when he had his seminal moment:

Koepka closed the tournament with an exclamation point, draining a 25-foot eagle putt on 18:

The win is Koepka’s fifth on the PGA Tour and third of 2018. It’s hard to imagine a better year for the Seminole standout, especially considering he didn’t even know if he’d play after suffering a serious wrist injury late last year. He didn’t touch a club for over 3 months, but still made history in June when he became the first man to win back-to-back U.S. Open Championships since Curtis Strange in 1989, before joining another elite list of golfers who have won both the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in the same year in August.

After the final round in South Korea, Koepka made the following remarks on his win and new spot on top of the world:

Here are his full comments:

He’s the 9th youngest player to reach No. 1:

The title will become “official” when the rankings are published Monday.