Brooks Koepka Wins Consecutive US OPEN Titles
Brooks Koepka became the first man since Curtis Strange in 1988-89 to win back to back US Open titles as Shinnecock Hills proved yet again to be a fickle beast as Koepka’s winning score was above par at +1. Dustin Johnson held the lead after Thursday and Friday but struggled on Saturday shooting +7 on the round and that +7 took him from -4 to +2 for the tournament. Take a look at his overall performance below.
Brooks Koepka Makes History
The 118th US Open was historical as is, being at Shinnecock Hills. But Koepka added some more history becoming the first golfer since Curtis Strange to win it in consecutive years. Take a look at his scorecard for the tournament below
Koepka did what he needed to do in this tournament, play smart golf and don’t let the high scores affect you. We saw a rather interesting moment this tournament of just that. During the 3rd round, Phil Mickelson was on the 13th green and missed his putt, no big deal. But what he did after stunned the golf world. He decided to putt his still moving ball which got him a two stroke penalty and a near disqualification. According to Mickelson’s wife, he was ready to withdraw from the US Open after his disastrous 3rd round. Take a look here.
We’ve all been here before, and surely we’ve all done this a time or two on the greens ourselves. But coming from a world class golfer like Phil isn’t a good look. When the rules committee came to talk to Phil during his round, he knew what he did, he said thanks and he continued on with his round.
Record Round for Europe’s #1
Tommy Fleetwood had a damn near perfect final round at Shinnecock. He shot a US Open record tying 63 for a -7 to get him to +2 overall. Fleetwood did have a rather manageable birdie putt on 18 that would have given him a US Open record 62, tie for 1st, and a chance at the rare US Open 18 hole playoff with Koepka. His bogey on 9 didn’t do him any favors either. The 9th started off well for Fleetwood as he did find the fairway. However; he had a less than desirable approach shot and left himself with a long par putt that he left short.
2019 US Open
Next year’s US Open will be played at one of golf’s most iconic golf courses, Pebble Beach. Pebble Beach favors many more golfers than Shinnecock did. Expect the bigger names to be near the top of the leaderboard next year and expect Brooks Koepka to look for US Open number three in a row.
–Brian Berard (@RockyBerard)