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It’s back to back for Brooks Koepka at the U.S. Open. We’ve got a new superstar.
It’s a second straight title for Brooks Koepka, but it all came differently at Shinnecock than it did a year ago in Wisconsin at Erin Hills.
Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
On the heels of his first ever major championship last year at Erin Hills, Brooks Koepka successfully defended his U.S. Open title at Shinnecock Hills with a 2-under-par 68 to hold off a historic early afternoon round from Tommy Fleetwood on Sunday. It’s the first back-to-back U.S. Open win since Curtis Strange did exactly that in 1988 and 1989. And, man, it sure felt like we were back at Erin Hills on the back nine today in the Hamptons.
Just like last year at Erin Hills, Koepka sucked the life out of the tournament on the back nine — creating a bit of space between himself and fellow leaders with steady play and opportune birdies. The Florida State grad hardly made a mistake, providing one of the more complete performances you’ll ever see in a major championship — just steely, solid, never showing any nerves or even the slightest cracks in his facade. A lone bogey on the back nine at 11 gave Fleetwood in the clubhouse and others a bit of hope, but that was all dashed at 16 when Koepka nailed in yet another tight iron, kicked in a birdie, and gave himself a two-shot edge for the finishing two holes.
From there, there was little drama left. With only Tony Finau remaining in contention behind him stuck in the rough, a kick-in bogey putt was enough to clinch a one-shot win over Fleetwood.
Which, oh yeah — the drama might have come four hours before the leaders even finished. Roaring back from starting the day six shots off the lead, Fleetwood’s chasing of Johnny Miller and the first ever 62 in U.S. Open history came down to the his final putt on the 18th. This one would’ve created a playoff, and it felt like the entire place somehow new 2-over just wouldn’t quite be enough later in the day.
It’s easy to fall into the trope about Koepka being a certain type of U.S. Open player, but the tests he faced in Wisconsin last year and on Long Island this year couldn’t have been more different. Erin Hills was soggy, damp, and long — a sort of bombers set-up where it felt unsurprising that a player like Koepka might take home the title. Shinnecock? It’s a whole different world. The old-school design tests every club in the bag off the tee and through the green, forcing players to hit all sorts of different shots. It’s often thought of as a ballstriker’s type of venue — someone that can craft all kinds of different iron shots and approaches to score successfully and avoid trouble on the green complexes. For example, that’s maybe why it wasn’t shocking to watch Tommy Fleetwood throw down a 63 here on a more gettable set-up.
Still, it’s hard to put how insane it is that Brooks won this event into words. The dude missed the first four months of the season after wrist surgery to repair torn tendons in his wrist, missing The Masters and other big events to start the year. Now, effectively starting his season about six weeks ago, he’s a major champion again.
The legacy stuff makes for easy content — and it’s all certainly true for Koepka now. He’s a multi-major winner, something few in the sport can say. He’s still in his 20s. He’s won back to back US Opens. That’s history. But his Sunday performance — stiffing iron after iron after iron down the stretch tells us something we should’ve already appreciated: Brooks Koepka is far more than just some yoked Florida dude that hits the ball a mile. He’s a complete-game ballstriker with megastar type potential that can be here for decades to come.
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