Koepka rises to world No.2, Tiger and Scott soar

Someone might even be prepared to stump up a few quid for the next edition of the US PGA Championship after all.

Tiger Woods hits his tee shot on the 17th hole during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Bellerive Country Club.

Bryson DeChambeau narrowly missed automatic qualification by one spot. The fans, you can tell right away. His non-faltering on the back nine in comparison to Carnoustie shows that he’s now firing both physically and mentally.

Woods himself referred to his return to the year’s first major at the Masters at Augusta as “a miracle”.

Woods made the biggest move in the final Ryder Cup standings, jumping from 20th to 11th in the points.

“I’m just thankful to be here”.

“Tiger played great! Tiger believes he can win and came close”, Nicklaus said on Twitter.

“So I had to kind of figure this out on my own, and it’s been really hard, it’s a lot harder than people think”. Thomas Pieters, who played well in the 2016 defeat, shot back to prominence with a sixth-place finish at the US PGA.

Woods chose to lay up to a wedge yardage rather than go for the green on the 295-yard par-4 11th, but he pulled his wedge a bit and flew it too far, leaving 28 feet for birdie.

We’ve got a couple of events to look forward to this week.

“It’s not like I forgot what to do playing in the final group of a major”, Scott said. “It kind of pushes you to step up your game”.

“It’s important. You want guys who are playing well”, Furyk said as he discussed the attributes needed by contenders for a wildcard pick.

Somewhat betrayed by the putting game that had helped stake him to a 64 and 66 in the first two rounds, Woodland bogeyed three times in the first 10 holes.

Australian Adam Scott, who drew level with Koepka on the back nine, finished third, a further stroke behind.

But the value of Mickelson on the Ryder Cup team has to do with intangibles nearly as much as it does with how many birdies he makes. “I think everybody at the golf course cheers for him”.

And in his exhilarating but ultimately futile attempt to catch Koepka at the PGA Championship, Woods got a taste of what it’s going to take to get back on top in the majors.

“Three majors at 28 – it’s a cool feeling”, Koepka said.

If this sampling is any indication – and it usually is a good one – the ratings for the final round of the tournament are going to be enormous.

“Just missed putts on 14 and 15 and Brooks made them and my momentum was gone and I didn’t play the last two holes very well”.

You can see a full list of the U.S. Ryder Cup auto-qualifiers below (in bold), plus the players ranked 9-12.

And the former world number one strengthened his case for inclusion in the team with a second place finish in the PGA Championship. “That would be a good way to start”.

It’s not just the American players who are digging the atmosphere.

“It’s definitely moving in the right direction”.

Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about Woods’s performance was that it came on a course that didn’t suit him.