Brooks Koepka relishing PGA Championship defence after LIV Singapore success

Brooks Koepka is aiming to defend his PGA Championship title following his victory at LIV Singapore

Brian Keogh

Brooks Koepka is feeling good about his chances of retaining the PGA Championship after claiming LIV Singapore and his first win of the season.

The five-time Major winner closed with a three-under 68 at Sentosa Golf Club for a two-stroke win on 15-under over Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman, who took the team title with compatriots Matt Jones and Lucas Herbert.

“It’s all starting to come around,” said Koepka, who has successfully defended his Major titles twice before. “I like the way things are trending.”

Koepka will be joined at Valhalla by Spain’s Adrian Otaegui, who overturned a five-shot deficit to secure his fifth DP World Tour title at the Volvo China Open.

He shot a seven-under 65 to win by a shot from Guido Migliozzi on 18-under, catapulting him to third on the Asian Swing Rankings to earn his PGA spot alongside rankings winner Sebastian Söderberg and Japan’s Keita Nakajima, who finished second.

In amateur golf, Castleknock’s Paul Coughlan cruised to an impressive four-stroke win in the F45 Elysian Munster Men’s Amateur Open at Cork Golf Club.

Coughlan went into the final two rounds six strokes behind Carton House’s Darragh Flynn on two-under but followed a bogey-free five-under 67 with a 69 to win by four shots from Millicent’s Brian Doran on 10-under 278.

Flynn was third on five-under, with West of Ireland champion Keith Egan fourth on three-under.

Douglas’ James Walsh, the Under-25 winner, meanwhile, was fifth on two-under.

In the Lytham Trophy, Malone’s Matt McClean was the leading Irish finisher in tied 13th on five-over.

That was six shots outside a three-hole aggregate Play-Off that saw England’s Will Hopkins shoot one-under to overcome Welshmen Tomi Bowen and James Ashfield.