Brooks Koepka records his maiden Challenge Tour victory at the Challenge de Catalunya
Brooks Koepka carded a seven-under par 65 in the third round of the weather shortened Challenge de Catalunya, to record the first European Challenge Tour victory of his career.
Koepka started off his final round campaign with a tied second place in hand. However, he was not much worried about the one-stroke deficit against the overnight leader Jeppe Huldahl.
He got off to a perfect start, as he recorded three birdies on the front nine for a three-under par score before the turn.
The back nine of the course witnessed him make an even better start with a sparkling eagle on the 10th hole that took him to the top of the leaderboard.
Another two birdies on the 12th and the 16th hole allowed him to stretch his lead to three strokes over Alessandro Tadini.
It was a phenomenal display of the game by the American, especially when his countrymen were faltering at the Ryder Cup in the singles matches.
Throughout the tournament, he remained consistent in hitting the fairways and greens in regulation. The 17th hole on Friday was the only one where he conceded a bogey. Other than that, he did not lose a single shot during the week.
Koepka turned professional earlier this year and the tied fifth position finish at the Finnish Challenge was his best, prior to coming to Spain.
The last two tournaments that he played on the Challenge Tour saw him miss the cut in each of them. Therefore, he was not expecting such a strong result this week at the Golf La Graiera, in Tarragona.
"I really had no expectations coming into this week,” said the 22 year old, who won with an impressive score of 16 under par over three rounds.
“It was the same for the final round. I putted well in practice rounds, but I have been struggling lately with my whole game”.
“I missed two cuts lately and I was not very happy. But I guess I regrouped with my game and my mentality and it just felt really good this week. My game feels great now and I hope it continues that way,” he added.
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