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TSN Senior Reporter

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Brooks Koepka wakes up this morning as the World’s No.-1 ranked golfer after winning the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges in South Korea. 

When you tally up his season highlights, including two major wins and a Player of the Year honour, it’s hard to think that anyone disrespects him anymore.

Koepka, who fired a final-round 64 to defeat Gary Woodland by four shots for his third win of the calendar year and his first of the 201-19 season, has stated in recent months that he felt his accomplishments have not been fully appreciated. But it’s hard to think that will continue now. He’s not only the world’s best player at the moment, but also perhaps the most confident.

“I've gotten so much confidence off winning those majors where it's incredible every time I tee it up I feel like I really have a good chance to win whether I have my A-game or not,” Koepka told PGATour.com.
“I'm so excited right now, you have no idea. I just can't wait to go play again.”

In the seven tournaments since he missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open, Koepka is a combined 75 under par. His worst finish was a T26 at the Tour Championship. 

While known for his prodigious power while driving – he’s ranked ninth in Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee – he doesn’t get enough props for his putting. He finished last year with the seventh-best overall putting average. 

After winning the US Open in June, he told me assuredly that he considers himself one of the best putters on the PGA Tour. That might seem cocky, but the 28-year-old was merely pointing out the facts.

Koepka still has more major wins than regular Tour victories by a 3-2 margin. That’s something he’d like to change. It’s not that he doesn’t want to win more majors, mind you, but he’d like to win more often.

If he continues to play as he did in Korea, that should happen and with frequency. Koepka’s game is superb from so many standpoints but especially his mental strength. 

He is gaining a well-deserved reputation as a clutch closer. That comes from his finish at the US Open, where he battled Dustin Johnson down the stretch; the PGA Championship, where he wasn’t bothered at all by charges from Tiger Woods and Adam Scott; and this latest win, where Woodland tied for the lead on several occasions before Koepka put the hammer down.

He’ll play for the first time as the World No. 1 this week at the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions in China. 

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Adam Hadwin made nine birdies and posted a 64 in the final round of the CJ Cup. That was good enough for a top-10 finish for the Canadian, marking his best performance since the WGC-Mexico Championship last March.

The result pushed Hadwin up three spots on the Official World Golf Ranking to 60th. He’s the only Canadian inside the top 200 on that list with Ben Silverman, at 251, the next best.

Hadwin is in the field this week at the WGC-HSBC Champions event in China while six Canadians will tee it up at the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Mississippi. 

That group is comprised of Silverman, Roger Sloan, David Hearn, Adam Svensson, Corey Conners – who was married on Saturday – and Nick Taylor, who win this event back in 2015.