Brooks Koepka beats Peter Uihlein in playoff to win LIV Golf Jeddah Invitational

Brooks Koepka returned to the winner's circle at the LIV Golf Jeddah Invitational by beating fellow American Peter Uihlein in a three-hole playoff.

The four-time major champion, who now picks up a $4 million winner's paycheque, had a frustrating time on the LIV Golf Tour until he arrived in Saudi Arabia, making only one top-10 finish, at the Bangkok Invitational, in five starts.

Uihlein might've been disappointed to concede victory, but he and Koepka won the team format with Smash GC alongside Chase Koepka and Jason Kokrak. They each banked $750,000 for Smash's first win in the team format.

It is the American's first win since the Waste Management Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour. This was his eighth win on the circuit before hopping over to the Saudi-backed series.

Koepka, 32, tied Uihlein on 12-under at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club after they carded respective scores of 69 and 70 to finish top of a competitive leaderboard.

The winning putt! @BKoepka #LIVGolf #LIVGolfJeddah pic.twitter.com/B9tP62XLiJ

— LIV Golf (@LIVGolfInv) October 16, 2022

Seven other players, including the first-ever LIV Golf individual champion Dustin Johnson, finished within three shots of a playoff place, with Joaquin Niemann and Sergio Garcia missing out by a single stroke.

Koepka and Uihlein matched each other well in the first two playoff holes, played on number 18. They both made birdies before heading to the 18th tee for the third time.

Uihlein veered slightly left into the semi-rough while Koepka found the waste area to the right. Both players found the greenside bunker to the right to keep away from the large left-side lake, as the daylight began to run out.

As Koepka cosied his ball to within 10 feet of the pin, Uihlein agonisingly overshot his sand shot into the water. This effectively gifted Koepka the victory, who rolled in the birdie for good measure.

"It is (an important win). The last two years haven't been fun. It's been a long road, I'm super-excited and for my whole team," Koepka said.

"We got the band back together a couple of months ago. We got called back on the team, I've worked with Pete very hard and Jeff as well. Shout out to them, this is for them."

An emotional win for @BKoepka #LIVGolf #LIVGolfJeddah pic.twitter.com/IUes22ss3l

— LIV Golf (@LIVGolfInv) October 16, 2022

For the season-ending Team Championship in Miami at the end of October, 4 Aces, Crushers, Fireballs and Stingers will be the top four teams advancing straight to the semi-finals.

LIV Golf Jeddah Invitational - final leaderboard

WIN -12 B Koepka

-12 P Uihlein

-11 S Garcia, J Niemann

-10 M Wolff, D Johnson, P Casey

-9 B Wiesberger, C Schwartzel

-8 A Lahiri, A Ancer