Tiger Woods falls short at US PGA Championship despite thrilling crowd with stunning final round

The Tiger Woods fairytale will have to wait a while longer for a happy ending, after Brooks Koepka confirmed he is the new dominant force in the Majors.

Koepka, 28, broke the hearts of Woods and his legion of fans by powering to a two-shot victory at the 100th USPGA Championship – his third victory in his last six Majors.

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That is a strike rate unheard of since Woods was in his pomp. But there can be no doubt that the 42 year old warrior is back as a Major force, after a second pulsating performance in a row.

Koepka deservedly took the title after an enthralling battle with Woods and playing partner Adam Scott. But it was Tiger who generated most of the electricity and excitement on a thrill-a-minute final day at Bellerive.

He also occupied centre stage for much of the final day of The Open, where he took the outright lead briefly in the final round before finishing sixth.

His runner-up finish here is further proof that after four back operations and a ten year drought in the Majors, it is becoming a question of when Woods will win again, not if.

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The enormous crowd in St Louis – estimated at more than 100,000 – and millions watching everywhere apart from the TV-starved UK will still be wondering how the old maestro managed to play the front nine in three under par yesterday.

Woods did not hit a single fairway in the first nine holes and flirted with disaster on the second, where his ball stopped on a bank when it looked certain to end in the water.

He made an unlikely birdie from there and followed up by almost holing his tee shot at the short third. And he brushed off a bogey at the par three sixth with two more birdies to close to within two shots of the lead – after starting four behind Koepka.

The worry was that Woods had played the front nine in 13 under for the week – and the back nine in two over. And when he finally started hitting fairways, it threw an extra element of uncertainty into the mix.

But he almost picked up an extra shot in dramatic style. His thirty footer teetered on the edge of the hole at the eleventh – but it refused to tumble, unlike his famous chip at the 2005 Masters, when the Nike ‘Swoosh; was on full display before it dropped.

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These Bridgestone balls he used now clearly don’t behave themselves as well as his old equipment!

Woods kept everyone on tenterhooks by sandwiching a bogey at the 14th with three more birdies. And he threw in a miracle par save at the long 17th, after his ball bounced over a ditch when it looked certain he would pick up a penalty shot.

Then came another example of the old Tiger magic, as he drained a twenty footer for one final birdie at the last.

But after an early wobble with back-to-back bogeys at four and five, Koepka turned the screw by closing the front nine with a hat-trick of birdies.

He added two more when he needed them most, after Scott had snatched a share of the lead with a hat-trick of his own.

That meant the Australian’s bid for an emotional victory to honour close pal Jarrod Lyle – who lost his battle with cancer last week – came up just short.

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Scott has apparently paid the tuition fees for Lyle’s children until the end of their school days. Knowing that, not even Woods’ biggest supporters would have begrudged the 2013 Masters champion a second Major title.

By the time the last group set out on he final six holes, the top three of Koepka, Scott and Woods had distanced themselves from the pack,.

Thomas Pieters, a rookie sensation at the 2016 Ryder Cup, threatened to set an imposing target as a hat-trick of birdies took him to 12 under par with two to play.

The Belgian star had the power to reach the green in two comfortably on the par five 17th – but he hooked his tee shot into the ditch Woods’ ball jumped over, and put another one in there to crash to a double bogey seven.

Defending champion Justin Thomas was also in the mix after playing the first eleven holes in five under. But he stalled on the closing stretch and finished alongside Pieters on ten under.

But they were just the supporting cast. And the big stars put on a ell of a show.