Brooks Koepka, Male Athlete of the Year? Golf’s ESPY nominees are here

The ESPY nominees are here — and the PGA Tour’s perennially overlooked superstar may finally be getting his shine. Brooks Koepka was among the four nominees for Best Male Athlete, which were announced earlier this week.

The honor came on the heels of Koepka’s runner-up finish on Sunday at Pebble Beach, ending his hopes of a third consecutive U.S. Open title but cementing his position atop the world rankings. He has put together a recent major performance that ranks among the greatest of all time, going 1-T2-1-2 in his last four starts.

Koepka’s fellow nominees are as follows: NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes, the star quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs; Mookie Betts, the league MVP for the world champion Boston Red Sox, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the likely MVP for the Milwaukee Bucks.

BEST MALE ATHLETE

Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Brooks Koepka, Golf

Koepka also headlines the nominees for Best Male Golfer. He’s joined by Tiger Woods, who won the 2018 Tour Championship and 2019 Masters, as well as British Open champion Francesco Molinari and former world No. 1 Justin Rose. Koepka should be a lock to take home the award — although there’s no counting out fans’ dedication to Woods.

BEST MALE GOLFER

Brooks Koepka

Tiger Woods

Justin Rose

Francesco Molinari

Four LPGA stars were nominated for the title of Best Female Golfer. Ariya Jutanugarn won the 2018 money list and finished the year at No. 1. Jin-Young Ko won 2019’s first major, the ANA Inspiration, to move to world No. 1. Brooke Henderson just won her ninth title, the Meijer LPGA Classic, surpassing the total of every other Canadian (male or female). Sung Hyun Park has won five times since the start of 2018 and ascended to world No. 1 (she now sits No. 4).

BEST FEMALE GOLFER

Ariya Jutanugarn

Brooke Henderson

Jin-Young Ko

Sung Hyun Park

At the 2018 ESPYs, Jordan Spieth took home the title for Best Male Golfer, while S.H. Park won Best Female Golfer. The last (and only) male golfer to win Best Male Athlete was Tiger Woods in 2008; Woods has won the award five times. Annika Sorenstam is the only female golfer to have won Best Athlete; she did so twice, in 2005 and 2006.

The 2019 ESPYs allow for fan voting, which you can get in on here. The ESPYs this year will be hosted by Tracy Morgan and will air on July 10 at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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