When the week started, most of the pundits figured that an under par score would win. With Erin Hills being a question mark, having never hosted a U.S. Open, nobody quite knew just how far under par the winner would go. Nobody could have guessed what actually happened.
The putt that ended it https://t.co/tjYG2C6DOE
— Dan Hauser (@DanHauserGolf) June 19, 2017
Brooks Koepka won the U.S. Open at Erin Hills in record fashion, finishing the week at 16-under par. The 16-under score matches Rory Mcllroy’s 16-under par score at a water soaked Congressional in 2011 as the lowest in U.S. Open history. For a tournament that typically prides itself on keeping the winning score close to par, the scoreboard looked like something more out of the old Greater Milwaukee Open then a U.S. Open.
“I really should have made that up and down on 18 (for birdie and 17 under). That’s awesome. I think it’s really cool,” Brooks said about tying the scoring record. “It hasn’t sunk in, obviously, yet, and probably won’t for a few days. That’s probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced and to do it on Father’s Day it’s pretty neat. I didn’t exactly get my dad a card, so this works.”
Koepka’s accent to U.S. Open Champion has been a unique one in traditional golf standards. After a standout career at Florida State, opted against the Web.com Tour route and instead decided to go start his professional career in Europe on the Challenge Tour (The European Tour’s version of the Web.com Tour).
He scrapped together wins on the Challenge and European Tours, climbing up the world rankings enough to earn invitations to the majors and WGC events, as well as some PGA Tour events. From there he won the Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2015 and is now a major winner.
Brooks started the day 1 shot off the lead, but quickly birdied the first two holes on his way to 5-under 67 and never looked back. Koepka’s win was his first major championship, extending the streak of first time major winners to seven.
“I felt like I was playing really good,” Koepka said. “Obviously the wind picked up and I felt like that played right into my hands. Good ball-striker, good putter. And I felt confident all week. So to feel as confident as I did on a Sunday of a major and coming down the stretch was pretty neat.”