2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open results: Brooks Koepka earns 1st of many wins

The week at the Phoenix Open started with suffocating hype for Tiger Woods’ first appearance at TPC Scottsdale in 14 years, and it ended with a first-time PGA Tour winner that symbolizes everything that’s changed about a game that seems to have passed Tiger by.

Brooks Koepka is a supremely talented 24-year-old American who absolutely hammers the ball off the tee. He has spent much of his nascent career over in Europe, opting to get reps on the Challenge Tour and Euro Tour instead of grinding it out stateside through a more traditional route. He won four times on the Challenge Tour in less than a year, and then picked up his first big league title at the Euro Tour’s Turkish Airlines Open in November. This victory secures his status on the PGA Tour and is likely the first of many wins to come for the Florida State product.

Koepka battled with Martin Laird and Hideki Matsuyama in the final group of the day, exchanging blows throughout the back nine. Bubba Watson momentarily grabbed a share of the lead but could not keep pace over the final few holes and push the winning number for Koepka and the group behind him. The first-time winner played much of his round in obscurity and out of view of the CBS cameras until he made a huge push to jump into the lead at the 15th hole.

Standing on the tee of a 553-yard par-5, Koepka, whose primary advantage comes from his ability to bomb it, ripped a 328-yard drive. He then easily went for it in two, striping a 213-yard shot to the front of the green. After shaky putting for much of the round, Koepka poured in an eagle to make his move.

That it came down to Koepka and Matsuyama on the final green seemed oddly fitting on a week where Woods shot his career-worst round. Woods is struggling to keep up with all the young power that’s ubiquitous on Tour these days. Rory McIlroy started the day by dominating the Dubai Desert Classic and affirming his spot as the best player in the game by miles. And then the weekend finished with Koepka and Matsuyama, two players in their early-to-mid 20s who will be fixtures in the world of golf for decades to come, battling it out in the desert. Here are the final results from Phoenix: