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Brooks Koepka has claimed his fourth major win in two years with victory at the US PGA Championship but why is the American dominating golf's majors?
FIVE REASONS BROOKS KOEPKA IS DOMINATING GOLF
Koepka's US PGA Championship victory is his fourth major title after a PGA Championship win last year and 2017-18 US Open triumphs. But what makes him so hard to beat?
1. Length
He's one of the most powerful drivers on the US PGA Tour, averaging 308.7 yards from the tee. At his length, his 62 per cent of fairways hit means he uses short clubs for approach shots. Even from the rough, more lofted clubs are a huge advantage.
2. Razor-sharp iron play
Koepka ranks ninth on the PGA Tour for hitting greens in regulation. He's found 71.35 per cent of greens this season which has helped him rank fourth for scoring average (69.512) and fourth for birdie average (4.55 per round).
3. He's figured out majors
Koepka's attitude towards majors is the polar opposite of most golfers, who overthink when it comes to the four biggest events. Koepka's philosophy is: "There are 156 in the field, at least 80 I'm just going to beat. Half of those won't play well, so you're down to about 35 and then some of them, just pressure is going to get to them."
4. He doesn't get flustered
Many lack the ability to bounce back from bad holes but Koepka is unflappable when it comes to bogeys or worse. It was evident when he suffered five back-nine bogeys on Sunday. Dustin Johnson came within a shot of Koepka but he stayed calm and eventually earned a two-shot win.
"I don't need a sports psychologist; I know what I'm doing," Koepka said. "It's simpler than what guys think; they make the mistake of trying to figure out when they get to a major, what's different. It's not. It's just focus: grinding it out, sucking it up and moving on. You're going to make a lot of mistakes, it's a major championship. A lot of guys have a hard time letting that go."
4. He's manufactured a chip on his shoulder
Koepka has been heavily scrutinised since winning his maiden major at the 2017 US Open. Most of that has come from Golf Channel pundit Brandel Chamblee who says Koepka isn't in the class of Johnson, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and wasn't tough enough during the Masters last month. "That really pissed me off," Koepka said during his winning press conference on Sunday.
However the 29-year-old admits using the criticism as motivation. "Some of it was a little manufactured. You've got to find a chip or something to motivate yourself ... I think every great athlete always has a chip; look at Michael Jordan."
