Professional golfer Brooks Koepka has been named the Hickok Belt® Award winner for the month of May 2019. Voting was conducted by a select panel of members of the National Sports Media Association (NSMA). On May 19, 2019 Brooks Koepka, the 29-year-old dominating the golfing world, won the 2019 PGA Championship defeating opponent Dustin Johnson by two strokes. Koepka is the first golfer to successfully defend the PGA Championship title since Tiger Woods’ feat in 2007. Brooks Koepka’s score of 128 for Round 1 and 2 of the 2019 PGA Championship is the lowest 36-hole score in the 159-year history of professional major championship golf. With his win in this major tournament, Koepka regained the number one position in the Official World Golf Ranking placing him as the best male golfer worldwide in the sport today. In the opening round at Bethpage Black, Koepka tied the tournament record and set the course record, one for the record books.
Other finalists for the month of May in order of how the NSMA ranked them included: Kawi Leonard (basketball), Andy Ruiz (boxing), Tuukka Rask (hockey), Hyun-Jin Ryu (baseball), Stephen Curry (basketball), Josh Bell (baseball), Martin Truex, Jr. (auto racing) and Jaden Schwartz (hockey) – tie, and War of Will (Mark Casse), (horse racing).
His selection as the Hickok Belt® Award winner for the month of May 2019 recognizes Brooks Koepka as “the best of the best” in professional sports for the month and makes him the fifth candidate eligible to receive the overall Hickok Belt® Award for 2019, joining Tiger Woods, Kyle Busch, Julian Edelman and Tom Brady.
