Gary Woodland holds off Koepka to win first major at the US Open

Gary Woodland closed out his U.S. Open victory in dramatic style to win his first major title by three strokes at Pebble Beach Golf Links

With a phenomenal par save at 17 and a 35 footer for birdie on the last, Gary Woodland closed out a two-under 69 to beat defending champion Brooks Koepka by three shots at the 119th U.S Open with a total of 13-under-par (271). 

Woodland, who until today had just two top 10s in majors (both at the PGA Championship) and a best finish of T23 at the U.S. Open, held off challenges from both Koepka and Justin Rose to claim his maiden major title on a thrilling Sunday at Pebble Beach. 

The 54-hole leader began the day with a one shot lead over Justin Rose, and although he was caught briefly by the Englishman after just one hole, he pulled out in front from the second with a birdie to Rose’s bogey, and kept his lead for the remainder of the round. 

Defending champion Brooks Koepka made him work for it though, making birdies at four of his opening five holes to get to within two shots of Woodland’s lead at 11-under. But while Woodland makes a crucial par save on the seventh, Koepka pushed his approach shot from the middle of the fairway on eight to drop back to -10. 

Woodland’s first dropped shot of the day came at the ninth after a wayward drive left him unable to get to the green in two, and it gave him a one shot cushion over Justin Rose heading in to the back nine after the former World No.1 made a birdie at the sixth and dropped a shot on eight. 

Koepka rolled in a birdie putt from 10-feet to get to 11-under once more, but handed back that shot instantly when he failed to get up and down from the bunker on 12. Meanwhile, Woodland began to struggle briefly off the tee and despite scrambling well on 11 made a bogey on the 12th to fall back to 11-under – just one shot clear of Koepka. 

From that moment on Rose, who had also bogeyed the 12th, fell out of contention with a birdie-free back nine that included two more dropped shots on 14 and 15 to see him fall back to 7-under-par. 

Woodland sorted out his driving issues and re-established his two shot lead over Koepka simultaneously with a birdie at the par-five 14th hole, making the most of a 314 yard drive and getting up and down from the greenside rough for a four. 

But perhaps the most crucial moment came at the 17th for the leader. Up ahead, Koepka had fired his approach shot to nine-feet, and when Woodland hit the front of a green with a pin at a tricky back position, there looked to be no certainty of a par. 

It could have been a two shot swing and a tie at the top, but Koepka’s ball slid by the hole a couple of inches, and Woodland produced the shot of the day with an outstanding chip to just under three feet.

Heading down the final hole with a two shot lead, Woodland turned the par-5 18th in to a three-shot hole, hitting his approach shot to 35 feet. 

He raised his arms up in triumph as the improbable putt found its way to the bottom of the cup, securing his three-shot victory over Koepka, who now has one win and two runner-up finishes in majors in 2019. 

Justin Rose finished in a tie for third with Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele and Chez Reavie, with Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuzien a shot further back on -6. 

Rounding out the top 10 were Henrik Stenson, Chesson Hadley and Rory McIlroy, who struggled to a one-over 72 in the final round. 

But the best of the day came from U.S. Amateur champion Viktor Hovland, who showed why he won that accolade at Pebble Beach last year with a four-under 67 to finish tied 12th. It means he finished not only with low amateur honours, but with his name in the history books for recording the lowest 72-hole score by an amateur in U.S. Open history.