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Koepka's final-round, 7-under-par 63 allowed
him to force a playoff with his Spanish counterpart at 19-under
191. Rahm had the overnight lead and posted a 5-under 65, but
Koepka made his push by birdieing three straight holes at Nos.
12-14 at The Greenbrier.
Koepka went on to make par at the first playoff hole, and Rahm
had a long par putt to extend the match, but it kissed the right
edge of the cup and lipped out.
Koepka had double the reason to celebrate because his team,
Smash GC, took home the team title by three shots over Ripper
GC, captained by Cameron Smith of Australia. Koepka, Talor
Gooch, Jason Kokrak and Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell
combined to go 18 under par Sunday, pushing their three-day
total to 53 under.
It marked Koepka's fifth LIV victory, the most in the league's
brief history.
"I think this is probably my favorite one," Koepka said. "It's
always good when you battle good players. I battled Gooch for a
while last year, felt like every tournament, but yeah, Jon is a
hell of a player. For whatever reason, he's always got the
better of me a little bit as of late. So it feels nice just to
get one."
The two playoff participants have seven major championships
between them, with Koepka owning five. But Rahm got the best of
Koepka in a head-to-head battle down the stretch at the 2023
Masters, before Rahm left the PGA Tour for LIV.
"I wasn't thinking about it," Koepka said. "It was just one of
those things, just go play golf and go get it in the hole as
quickly as possible."
Koepka and Rahm finished one stroke ahead of Kokrak, who also
shot a 63 Sunday. Australia's Marc Leishman (64) and England's
Richard Bland (65) tied for fourth at 17 under.
Rahm, who fired a second-round 62 Saturday, couldn't believe his
par putt in the playoff lipped out.
"I thought it was in," said Rahm, who was looking for his second
LIV title. "I guess there's just so many good things done this
week, and only the third bogey of the week to make it in a
playoff. It's unfortunate."
--Field Level Media [© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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