The Open 2019: What makes Brooks Koepka the ultimate major player?
Brooks Koepka has won four of the last ten major championships, a stretch of golf that stands comparison with the best in the game's history.
The rise of golf's unassuming superstar is made all the more startling by the fact Koepka has won twice as many majors as regular PGA Tour tournaments.
What is it about golf's stiffest examinations that brings out his best and how is he able to peak for the most important weeks on the calendar?
Trouble holds no fear
Jack Nicklaus once remarked that majors were the easiest tournaments to win because most of the field did not believe they could, and Koepka has echoed those sentiments.
"There's 156 (players) in the field, so you figure at least 80 of them I'm just going to beat," Koepka said before the USPGA Championship. "You figure about half of them won't play well from there, so you're down to about maybe 35. And then from 35, some of them just - pressure is going to get to them. It only leaves you with a few more, and you've just got to beat those guys."
Feeling more relaxed the tougher the assignment is an unusual mental dynamic according to charted psychologist and former cricket Steven Sylvester.
"I've worked at a major with a golfer and the set-up can be unbelievably unnerving, even for the best in the world," Sylvester says.
"What's interesting with Brooks is that he can be a multiple winner of majors more so than regular PGA Tour events and that's fascinating.
"I think it's because of the blend of his physical attributes combined with his technical skill and a mindset that says 'nobody else in the field can do what I do'."
Koepka ranks second on Tour this season for approaches from rough between 100 and 125 yards, and his ability to gouge the ball from the heavy lies found at majors affords him a clear mind while others fret about potential trouble.
"Most players are thinking I can't go in the rough," Sylvester says. "Brooks is thinking 'it's irrelevant let me get it down there 330 yards and go from there'."
Eliminating the 'two-way miss' with driver
"Golf is not a game of good shots. It's a game of bad shots," said legendary player and thinker Ben Hogan. No player - even Tiger Woods at the turn of the millennium - produces 72 holes of flawless golf at a major championship. Managing the rare misses is all important.
There is little to separate the good shots of the top few hundred players in the world. They all strike the ball flush out of the middle of the face and send the ball tremendous distances relative to the mortals at your nearest driving range. What distinguishes the elite though, is the near-absence of truly destructive shots.
Koepka has a very obvious 'miss' off the tee and it is when his power fade leaks a little too much to the right. This enables him to stand over drives with confidence that the left side of the course is almost out of play. Koepka ranks 44th on Tour on the Left Rough Tendency metric, with just 10.83 percent of drives finding rough on the left. By contrast, he ranks 153rd on Tour for Right Rough Tendency with 16.92 percent of drives heading in that direction. It is a small but telling distinction.
Nothing saps belief like the fear of the dreaded 'two-way miss', when a golfer is spraying the ball everywhere and missing fairways on both sides. When swinging well, Koepka knows his miss and that can be invaluable on the toughest courses.
Why PGA Tour wedge and putt contests are not Koepka's bag
Koepka's next start after this year's USGPA victory (with a score of eight-under) was the RBC Canadian Open. The winning score was 22-under and Koepka finished T50. His next start after a runner-up finish at the US Open (with a score of 10-under) was the Travellers Championship. The winning score was 17-under and he finished T57.
It should be noted that Koepka reached 16-under at a lenient 2017 US Open at Erin Hills and the 2018 USPGA at Bellerive, so he is capable of going low when needed. However, he certainly seems to relish tournaments when things get tough and there may be technical as well as mental reasons for that.
He is a fantastic iron-player, but he really stands out relative to his rivals on approach shots from more than 175 yards. Koepka ranks first on Tour on iron shots from 175 to 200 yards and ninth from 200 yards and more. Those high, soft-landing mid to long iron shots are ideal for the monstrous par-threes and converted par-fives on offer at majors. With the shorter clubs, Koepka ranks 49th from 150 to 175 yards and 23rd from 125 to 150 yards. Still in the top tier, but not quite the same competitive advantage.
Nor is Koepka an outstanding putter. In fact, statistically he is quite an average one ranking 95th on Tour for strokes gained putting while averaging 1.774 putts per green in regulation which has him 127th. On the 'easier' courses that host bread and butter PGA Tour events, the competition can often descend into a putting contest because everyone is hitting plenty of greens. The rounded tests presented by major venues are more to Koepka's liking.
*Statistics accurate prior to the John Deere Classic.
