Brooks Koepka claims LIV Jeddah title after play-off

Brooks Koepka sank a birdie putt on the third hole of a play-off to defeat Peter Uihlein and win the LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah on Sunday in Saudi Arabia.

Koepka opened the tournament with an eight-under-par 62 at Royal Greens Golf &Country Club, but Uihlein took a one-shot lead after a second-round 63. On Sunday, Koepka shot a 69 and Uihlein a 70 to tie at 12 under for the weekend.

They each birdied the first two play-off holes before Uihlein found the sand and hit his third shot from there into a water hazard. Koepka rolled in another birdie, and in doing so clinched his first tournament title anywhere since the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February 2021.

Koepka had not been faring well even prior to departing the PGA Tour for the Saudi-financed startup. The four-time major champion had struggled to get past multiple nagging injuries.

"It's been before LIV, when I blew my knee out and my foot was pointed that way, almost backwards and sideways," Koepka said. "Credit to (orthopedic surgeon Neal) El Attrache. Throw his name out there. I still, I mean, eventually I'm going to have to have knee replacement in a few years, but I didn't know what was -- I wasn't sure whether I could even move the same way and if I want to play if I could move the way I wanted.

"I'm fortunate be in the spot that I'm in right now."

Koepka overcame a string of three straight bogeys at 11 to 13 before finishing off his 69. Koepka and Uihlein each birdied the par-5 18th to get to 12 under, one stroke ahead of Chile's Joaquin Niemann (65) and Spain's Sergio Garcia (68), who tied for third at 11 under.

Matthew Wolff (66), Dustin Johnson (67) and England's Paul Casey (68) tied for seventh at 10 under.

Uihlein plays on Koepka's Team Smash, which