Brooks Koepka was so good on Sunday at Erin Hills that he made the 117th U.S. Open Championship look like the Wisconsin Dairy Farmers Classic.
Koepka used his extraordinary length and accuracy off the tee, pin-seeking iron shots and laser-like putting to shoot a hard-to-imagine 16-under par at Erin Hills. In the process of his final round 67, he shot 16-under par and tied Rory McIlroy for the lowest score ever in America’s oldest championship.
Koepka blew out of the starting blocks and went birdie-birdie on the first two holes and never looked back. He played near-perfect golf, hitting 17 of 18 greens, most of the fairways and had just a single bogey that came when he three-putted the 10th hole.
By the end of his round, he buried the competition. Overnight leader Brian Harman put up a good fight but could only manage an even par 72 in the toughest conditions of the week as the winds cranked up and blew 15-20 miles per hour for most of the round. That brought an end to the silly low scores. Justin Thomas, who broke Johnny Miller’s 44-year-old single-round record with a nine-under par 63 on Saturday, ballooned to a 75 on Sunday and finished in a tie for ninth.
Harman was on the defensive for most of his round. He managed just three birdies for the day and finished with an even par 72 and tied for second with hard-charging Hideki Matsuyama. Matsuyama’s 66 got him to 12-under with Harman.
Rickie Fowler couldn’t find enough good shots, shot 72 and tied for fifth behind Tommy Fleetwood. Fleetwood, who played with Koepka, shot even par, put up 11-under and took solo fourth.
The win was only Koepka’s second in America. He played the European Tour prior to getting his PGA Tour card and won five times across the pond.
“Unbelievable. I don’t know what to say,” said the reserved Koepka, who showed little emotion other than a controlled fist pump as he holed out the winning put. “I was watching the scoreboard, I wanted to go as low as a could,” Koepka admitted.
His record tying-day earned him a record pay-day of $2,160,000 and changed his professional life forever.
He’s currently No. 22 in the world but will make a big jump when the new rankings come out.
In the meantime, the rest of the PGA Tour might want to take notice that there’s a new sheriff in town.
6 Comments
RM
Very, very impressive win by Koepka, and agree he is going to be part of the mix of the big guns from here on. Someone pointed out the proliferation of majors recently that have had record breaking scores and that it was getting to the point that a golfer basically has to set a record to win a major now.
Each year there is seemingly a new dominant player (Speith, Day, DJ, etc.) who sets a bar but then struggles. It looks as though we may be in for a period where we have quite a few worthy deputies jockeying for the role of the sheriff.
I don’t know if it is simply that there are so many good young players now, or maybe a bit of complacency that sets in when you’re knocking down $15-$20M a year for being there and being capable.
I remember that Arnold Palmer said once that players start to make money, maybe win a tournament, and think that running high in the pack was enough. And then, very Arnie-like, he said, “When that happens, they’re done.” This was circa 1965.
Tom Edrington
GREAT observations, you’re right on all counts. I do agree with Arnie….these guys do get fat and happy…..you have to be driven and you wonder who really is these days…..
RM
I do think that when we talk about say, the top 10-20 or so tour pros, we’re looking at the very, very narrow tip of a large golfing pyramid with a very wide base. Any of them is capable of putting together a winning performance in a given tournament, and can blow the field away on a good day.
I believe they are not only extremely talented, but pretty driven to have gotten to that very rarefied level. It may well be that someone capable of separating themselves from that elite crew has to be a once in a generation level blend of talent, drive, focus, and savvy. Calling Jack, Tiger, Arnie, Ben…anyone there?
Tom Edrington
Also, this Open showed us guys like the X-Man, Xander, a Web.com graduate, has game. Look at the two college kids in there, Brian Harman showed a lot of grit and determination as well. Sergio quietly had a decent showing. Seems you get a great one every 10 years…….Hogan/Nelson then Palmer then Nicklaus (don’t forget guys like Trevino, Watson, Floyd) then Woods …seems there were so many more capable players competing against Jack that Tiger had to face, now I believe the torch has been passed, first Open since 1994 with no Mickelson and/or Woods…..
RM
Can’t let the list of Nicklaus’s opponents go without a nod to Gary Player.
The Nicklaus group does seem tougher overall, but as they say, you can only beat the people that come along in your time.
My hope is that someone will put a comparative analysis together similar to what has been done with baseball. Not sure that the data is there though to really nail it down.
Tom Edrington
Gary won the grand slam twice, I believe, career that is, I was at the Masters in ’78 when he shot 64-64 over the weekend to win……always a nice man, gotten a little stodgy in his old age…lol…as far as the new generation, I believe the rankings will become very interchangeable……especially at the top