Four-time major winner Brooks Koepka shrugged off rain-soaked conditions and boos from spectators Saturday to fire a second straight four-under par 66 and grab a one-stroke lead at the PGA Championship.
Koepka, among US stars who jumped to the Saudi-financed LIV Golf League from the PGA Tour, sank a 47-foot putt at the par-4 17th hole for his fifth birdie to finish on six-under 204 at soggy Oak Hill.
"I putted pretty well and I was pretty happy with my game," Koepka said. "It was tough with the rain, moisture on the greens slowing them up. But I felt like I was a lot more aggressive than I was the two previous days on the greens."
That was good enough for a one-stroke ahead over Norway's Viktor Hovland and Canadian Corey Conners, with LIV's Bryson DeChambeau fourth on 207. All three shot 70 on Saturday.
Koepka and DeChambeau, high-profile players in the PGA Tour-LIV split, were booed by the crowd when they were introduced on the first tee. But both turned jeers into roars with spectacular shotmaking.
"I love when the fans are on you, cheering for you, or giving you crap if you screw up," Koepka said. "That's the beauty of it. I want that atmosphere."
After a day-long deluge, Koepka birdied the par-5 fourth and par-3 fifth, took his lone bogey at seven, then sank birdie putts of 15 feet at 12 and 18 feet at the par-5 13th before his penultimate-hole bomb.
Koepka could join Tiger Woods and LIV's Phil Mickelson as the only players since 1990 to win five majors by capturing a third career PGA crown.
Hovland, ranked 11th, was set to share the lead in quest of his first major title but found a greenside bunker and made bogey at 18.
"I'm playing really solid tee to green, giving myself a lot of easy pars," Hovland said. "Haven't quite
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