Brooks Koepka wins US Open title after record week

He went in at 32 on the back nine but came out in 37 with three bogeys on the front.

The American fired a five-under 67 in the final round at Erin Hills to secure a four-stroke victory over Hideki Matsuyama and Brian Harman.

Bogey – Previous major winners: While Koepka became the seventh consecutive first-time major champ, zero previous major winners finished in the top 20 at Erin Hills.

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“It’s unbelievable”, he said.

“You don’t get many rounds at the U.S. Open that are stress-free”, Fowler said. I think it’s a great test.

But, as Matsuyama’s closing birdie pulled him within one of the lead at -12, Koepka found overdrive. He carded three straight birdies on Nos.

“It was a good display, all my own fault, but a good display of what can happen if you get out of position on this golf course”, he said. “He went and won the golf tournament on the back nine”.

Erin Hills fought back on Friday and the world’s top three players won’t be around for the weekend at the U.S. Open. This year was also the first time that the runner-up finished double digits below par (the top seven on this year’s leaderboard all did so). The strongest gusts were Sunday morning and it tapered to a strong breeze by the afternoon. Tommy Fleetwood, Patrick Reed, and Si Woo Kim only managed even-par or worse.

“A three-wood 300 yards yesterday for Justin Thomas“, he said, referring to Thomas’s approach to the par-five 18th that led to an eagle for a U.S. Open record score of nine-under 63. He shot a 1-under 71 on Sunday to finish at 1-over for a 35th-place tie. I’m a big ball striker. “No regrets, but I did play well”.

The 23-year-old put himself in a hard position Thursday by shooting a one-over 73 due largely to uncharacteristic struggles on the green.

Koepka’s 16-under par total matches Rory McIlroy’s at Congressional in 2011. However, a bogey on the 10th hole dropped him back a stroke and more in line with the rest of the pack.

And when he completed his hat-trick from 16 feet on the 16th, all that was left to decide was whether he would equal or break McIlroy’s record.

“It was kind of bombs away”, Koepka told Curtis Strange after his win. “I felt comfortable, I enjoyed playing late on Saturday and Sunday, and then next time, whenever that comes, I’ll play well enough to get myself in contention”.

England’s Paul Casey set the early pace, posting a one-under par 71 to move to seven under before most of the other contenders had even teed off on their second round at the Wisconsin track. In the group ahead leader Brooks Koepka didn’t slip up. He won the next day to graduate to the European Tour.

His sister, Callie, served as his caddie at Erin Hills. How nice? How about life-changing.

“I knew going into the day with the rain we had last night and seeing that the course was going to play probably similar to what we saw Thursday morning when I went out, and if you played well and executed, that birdies were out there”, Fowler said.