This post summarizes the results from the final round of my 2023 PGA Championship Replay at Oak Hill (Acorn Hill). Previous posts have discussed the history of the event, day conditions in 2023, and results for rounds 1, 2, and 3 for both the replay and actual tournament.
Acorn Hill is a tough par 70 with a 7-Iron club restriction for all shots from the regular rough. I have been using all 70 of the APBA golfers who played in the event and were carded for 2023.
Actual Event
With the light rain of the previous two days ended, round 4 was played under partly cloudy conditions with the day’s noontime temperature at 79 degrees and a 7-mph wind from the west. Scores reflected the more favorable conditions by dropping nearly 2 strokes from an average score of 72.62 in round 3 to 70.66 in round 4.
Of the 76 qualifiers in round 4, five players shot 65 (Scottie Scheffler, Cam Davis, Kurt Kitayama, Sepp Straka, and Cameron Smith), and Patrick Cantlay finished with a 66. The best score in the first three rounds was a 66 posted by Brooks Koepka (in rounds 2 and 3) and by Bryson DeChambeau (in round 1).
Brooks Koepka’s final round 67 was good enough to hold off runner ups Scheffler (65) and Viktor Hovland (68). In round 4, more than one-third of the field (28 players) would break par. Despite the surge of low scoring in the final found, the scoring challenges of the earlier rounds resulted in only eight players under par for the tournament.
The top of the round 4 actual leaderboard is provided below.
The Replay Event
For the round 4 replay the pin was located at position 5, the prevailing wind (Type-A) was Calm, and the course conditions Normal (no change to FW or Green roll). The hole distances for the pin 5 location are shown below. The “To Par” scores are for the entire 4 rounds with scores below par shown in red.
For the tournament, hole no. 6 proved to be the most difficult on the front nine with hole no. 17 the most difficult on the back nine and overall. Elevated scores on the seven 450+ yard par 4 holes (nos. 1, 6, 7, 9, 16, 17, and 18) and the two 240+ yard par 3 holes (nos. 3 and 11) explain why the replay field was over par on average in round 4 (71.7 strokes) and for the tournament (72.1 strokes).
Replay Scoring Recap
The 54-hole first place leader, Patrick Cantlay, shot a final-round 67 to win the replay and hoist the virtual Wannamaker trophy over runner ups, Xander Schauffele (68) and Scottie Scheffler (68). Cantlay started the round hot by running off four consecutive birdies (on hole nos. 2 – 5) and didn’t look back.
The 54-hole leaderboard’s second place finishers, Brooks Koepka (72) and Rory McIlroy (71), both had mediocre performances on the green in the final round. Koepka had 31 putts with a total distance made of only 56 feet. McIlroy had 29 putts with a total distance made of 56.5 feet. By comparison, Cantlay took only 27 putts with a total distance made of 90 feet. (The replay tournament averages were 29 putts and a total distance made of 78.5 feet.)
By the time Cantlay had finished the front nine 3-under par, the tournament was in cruise control. A stress-free, Even-par back nine merely wrapped things up. Despite solid 2-under final rounds by eventual second place finishers, Scheffler and Schauffele, both were too far back to threaten Cantlay. At 9-under par, Cantlay secured the replay win by four strokes. His final round scorecard is provided below.
The day’s best scores were 66 posted by Viktor Hovland and Tom Kim. Next best were Partick Cantlay, Wyndham Clark, Ryan Fox, Russell Henley, and Min Woo Lee who shot 67. Four players each turned in a 68 and 69. Only 15 out of 70 players shot below par in round 4 (21.4%). The top of the final leaderboard is provided below.
How the actual tournament’s top-three leaders finished in the replay:
- Brooks Koepka No. 1 actual – finished T6 in the replay.
- Viktor Hovland T2 actual – finished T4 in the replay.
- Scottie Scheffler T2 actual – finished T2 in the replay.
Round 4 highlights included:
- Eagles: Ben Griffin (hole no. 4); Min Woo Lee (no. 2); Rory McIlroy (no. 14)
- Rory McIlroy drove the green on no. 14 (par 4, 315 yards)
- Most Fairways hit: Keegan Bradley – 12 of 14 (Avg. = 6.6)
- Fewest Fairways hit: 4 players tied – 3 of 14
- Most Greens in Regulation: 4 players tied – 15 of 18 (Avg. = 10)
- Fewest Greens in Regulation: Sam Burns – 3 of 18
- Min Woo Lee led all players in average driving distance (two holes) at 323 yards (Avg. = 285)
- Min Woo Lee and Rory McIlroy led all players in average driving distance (all drives) at 308 yards (Avg. = 283)
- Rory McIlroy had the longest drive: 370 yards
- Lee Hodges sank the longest putt: 47 feet (hole no. 11)
- Lee Hodges had the longest total distance of putts made: 151 feet
- Min Woo Lee had the fewest putts: 24 (Avg. = 28.9)
- Jordan Spieth had the most putts: 35