Brooks Koepka claims a fan tried to bash his surgically-repaired knee as Phil Mickelson closed in on historic US PGA win
BROOKS Koepka has claimed a fan went for his surgically repaired knee during the chaos on the 18th hole at Kiawah Island.
Both Koepka and Phil Mickelson were engulfed as thousands of spectators swarmed on to the course to cheer Mickelson to a remarkable PGA Championship victory.
Four-time Major winner Koepka, who underwent surgery on a dislocated kneecap and ligament damage earlier this year, was the only player who could have denied 50-year-old Mickelson victory.
If the leader had made bogey and Koepka had birdied the 18th, they would have gone to a play -off.
And Koepka believes a Mickelson supporter was determined to make sure that did not happen, and made a bee-line for him and caddie Rickie Elliott.
He explained: “I was just trying to protect my knee and it got bumped a few times. I don't know what someone was trying to do, or what. I don't know what the deal was. There were so many people around.
“Somebody jammed Rickie, and he stopped unintentionally because he got drilled in the face, and then I got drilled into the bag because he got stopped so quickly.
“I don't think anybody really understands until you’re actually coming out of surgery how you feel in those situations.
"I mean, even when I was doing rehab and there's five people kind of standing by your knee, you get a little skittish."
Asked whether he felt he had been targeted, Koepka added: “I don't mind waiting or being in that crowd.
"But getting my knee bumped. It felt like somebody tried to - I don't know what the deal was, but it's what it is. I’ll be putting it in ice because it feels like s**t right now
“I think the spectators coming on like that would have been cool if I didn't have a knee injury, and got dinged a few times.
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“If I was fine, yeah, it would have been cool. Yeah, it's cool for Phil. But getting dinged a few times isn't exactly my idea of fun.”
Koepka was in a much better position to attack the flag, with Mickelson wide of the fairway.
But both men made par, giving Mickelson a two shot victory over his playing partner and Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa.