Takeaways from the PGA Championship

For those keeping score at home, that's four major titles in 23 months for Brooks Koepka. Koepka, the new No. 1 golfer in the world, currently sits as the two-time defending champ in two majors after sweating out a PGA Championship victory that looked like it would be a relatively easy stroll on the Bethpage Black Course. By the way, he just turned 29 earlier this month.

OK, Koepka still has a ways to go, but is it too early to put him in the conversation about catching Jack Nicklaus for the most major victories in golf history? Maybe, but considering Koepka's current stretch of major success, it's fun to start thinking about it. Koepka is young enough to win 14 more majors. Tiger Woods needs just three more to equal the Golden Bear. So who has a better chance of getting there first? If at all.

Congratulations to Dustin Johnson: He completed the grand slam — for finishing second. With his runner-up finish at the PGA Championship, Johnson has now placed in a tie for or outright second at each of the four majors. Though he's still searching for a second major title, we think it will come sooner than later. Perhaps it will be next month at Pebble Beach for the U.S. Open, a tournament he's won or finished in the top five in four of the last five years.

One of the more interesting aspects of Sunday's final round, in addition to Johnson putting the heat on Koepka for a spell, was the gallery's support of Dustin. Plenty of "DJ," "DJ," DJ" chants were heard on the back nine, and it can be argued that he received a louder ovation walking up 18 than Koepka did. Perhaps golf fans are already tired of the same guy winning majors and want Johnson back in the big-event spotlight.

Is it shocking that Tiger Woods missed the cut at Bethpage this week? Yes, but it's also a sign of what we probably should expect from Woods at this point in his career. His highs and lows are likely to be drastic: winning a major one month and failing to make the cut at another the next. The golf course beat Woods at the PGA Championship, and the days of Tiger-proofing are gone. His game's just not consistent enough to be dominant.

Some will want to take aim at Tiger for not playing between majors. Taking into consideration his inconsistent health, it's understandable. That back needs all the rest it can get, but Woods might not be at the point in his career where taking that much time away from tournament action will welcome the rust. 

Despite looking easy, at least to Koepka through the first two rounds, Bethpage's Black Course rose to the occasion over the weekend. On Sunday some brutal winds helped the track play even tougher than it was set up to be. When all was said and done, only six golfers finished below par for the tournament, with Koepka winning at 8-under after finishing plus-four for the final 18. Other big names who were victimized by the Black Course on Sunday included Justin Rose (plus-five), Rickie Fowler (plus-seven), Tommy Fleetwood (plus-eight) and Tony Finau (plus-nine).

Tip of the cap to Jordan Spieth. His tie for third at the PGA indicates that he might be back to form and close to claiming his first victory since the 2017 Open Championship. He won at Colonial, the next PGA Tour stop, three years ago, and it would be sweet for Spieth to return to the win column with a victory near his Dallas home.

Things didn't look good early on for Rory McIlroy, who needed to grind just to make the cut at the PGA. However, matching 69s on the weekend led to a tie for eighth for McIlroy, who was one of the few to play well as Bethpage got tougher. His PGA Championship finish was a rather nice recovery after a T21 at the Masters. We look forward to seeing what he's able to do on the second half of the major schedule.

Not only did Bryson DeChambeau continue to struggle by missing the cut at the PGA Championship, but he also took shots at Bethpage's length. DeChambeau slammed the Black Course setup and said the tournament should not feel like a "long-drive contest." For the curious, DeChambeau, who has failed to finish better than 20th in any of his last seven starts, entered the tournament ranked 44th in driving distance and 34th on driving accuracy percentage.

There were obviously plenty of great European golfers in the PGA Championship field this weekend, but it was Englishman Matt Wallace who topped that list with his tie for third. It was just the second time in six major starts that Wallace made the cut. He's considered a budding star across the pond, but Wallace should also be a name to remember among American golf fans.

What started out as a decent tournament for Phil Mickelson finished ugly with a pair of weekend 76s for a  T71 finish. The good news for Lefty is that he can turn his attention to Pebble Beach and the U.S. Open next month. Sure, there is more golf to be played before then, but the Open is Mickelson's white whale and as he gets older, the door is closing quickly on completing his grand slam.

Aside from that final-round 77, Thailand's Jazz Janewattananond might have been the biggest surprise of the 2019 PGA Championship. In just his second major tournament, Jazz found himself on the first page of the leaderboard often this week. At 23 he likely put the entire golf world on notice that he could be a factor on the international scene.

Another surprise name who found himself near the top of the leaderboard at Bethpage was 28-year-old Harold Varner III. Checking in at 5-foot-9, Varner can pack a wallop off the tee and showcased his length often throughout the PGA. His final-round 81 left him tied for 36th, but it will be interesting to see if Varner can build on a solid three rounds in his fifth major start.  

There were plenty great golf shots struck on the Black Course, but none as good as the one Denmark's Lucas Bjerregaard delivered on the par-3 17th in the final round. Bjerregaard aced the 206-yard penultimate hole with a 6-iron to send an already rowdy crowd into an even greater frenzy. Thanks to that shot, Bjerregaard finished plus-three and tied for 16th.   

A final-round 76 kept Xander Schauffele from a fourth top-10 finish in the last five major tournaments. In the end, Schauffele finished tied for 16th, still a strong showing considering how Sunday's winds and course setup did a number on some of the best golfers in the world. Call it a hunch, but Schauffele might be a major winner by this time in 2020.

Tiger might have made weight training in golf fashionable, but Koepka continues to carry the torch in that area. Aside from his late struggles Sunday, Koepka's fitness level is a big reason he's able to handle the physical rigors of a major tournament course setup. It's become part of the game that really can't be overlooked, but not everyone has the discipline to keep up with it.

Matt Kuchar might still be searching for his first major championship, but his sensational season continued with a tie for eighth at the PGA Championship. Kuchar, who will turn 41 in late June, has won twice on the season and finished in the top 10 in half of his 14 starts on the PGA Tour, in which he's second in money and first in the FedEx Cup standings.

After withdrawing from the PGA Championship with that nagging wrist injury, Justin Thomas' status going forward remains uncertain at the moment. According to the Golf Channel, Thomas is able to chip and putt, but beyond that it appears to be wait and see for the 2017 PGA Championship winner.

There are plenty of intriguing storylines waiting at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in less than a month. Can Tiger make a major bounce back? Will Lefty win for a second time at Pebble in 2019. And, of course, there is Koepka. Not only will he be going for back-to-back major victories this season, but he also looks to become the first golfer to win three straight U.S. Opens since Willie Anderson from 1903-05.