Sometimes it’s hard to compare a person, or his accomplishments, because there are no models in the order of peers amongst whom he ranks. The magnitude of Brooks Koepka’s unprecedented win at the PGA Championship earlier this month—his second Major triumph in 2018—is hard to articulate not because it defied the odds, but because it made a mockery of them. And, even more astonishingly, it’s the second time Koepka has done it this year: in June, he successfully defended his US Open title. Koepka’s win at Shinnecock Hills was the first successful defense of golf’s most brutal test in almost three decades (Curtis Strange: 1988, 1989) and established the swarthy American as a genuine force to be reckoned with. It was clear that Koepka loved the big stage, but inexplicably, wasn’t able to replicate that in regular events on the PGA Tour.
After his US Open win, Koepka drew comparisons with Argentinian Angel Cabrera: ‘El Pato’ won the 2007 US Open and the 2009 Masters Tournament, but has only one regular PGA Tour event victory in his tally. The big difference being that Cabrera and Koepka aren’t peers: while the former is on his way to the Champions Tour, Koepka is only 28 years old. And now, he’s added another big one to the kitty.
Just to put Koepka’s win in perspective: he’s teed it up at 80 tournaments on the PGA Tour in which he’s won four titles of which only one has come at a non-Major.
“I’m just very—I don’t want to say maybe a different person when I show up to the majors,” Koepka said. “I’m very focused, very disciplined,” Koepka wondered aloud, responding to the inevitable question at the post-tournament press conference at the PGA Championship.
Whatever the reasons may be, the skewed performance stats at Major Championships certainly have the hallmark of greatness: Nick Faldo won nine times on the PGA Tour, of which six were Major titles, while Seve Ballesteros won five Majors in his career tally of nine events. Even Padraig Harrington counts three Majors among the six trophies in his cabinet. Koepka’s cumulative score at Majors this year was 21-under; not as impressive as Jordan Spieth’s tally of 54-under in 2015 or for that matter Tiger Woods’ mark of 53-under in that unforgettable 2000 season. Incidentally, Koepka became the first player to win the PGA and US Open in the same season after Woods accomplished the feat in 2000.
Talking of Woods, the PGA Championship was a bugle call for the legions of fans that follow the superstar every time he tees it up. The galleries swelled to vintage proportions at the Bellerive Country Club when Woods teed it up for the final-round four shots off the lead and in a tie for sixth place; the exact spot he was in at the Open Championship earlier this year. Even though he didn’t hit a single fairway on the front nine, Woods made the turn in three-under and added another three birdies on the back to shoot a 64 for his low-final-round score in a Major ever. The 42-year-old Woods has finally banished any doubts about his comeback, and seems on the verge of resuming his journey to challenge Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 Major wins. “I was in contention the last two majors and would never have foreseen that a year ago and I’m just so thankful to be here,” Woods said. “I played hard. It was a bit of a struggle with my game today. I was just hanging in there, grinding it out and trying to make as many birdies as possible. I made a little bit of a run but came up a couple of shots short.”
The other story to emerge out of the PGA Championship was the return of Australian Adam Scott who’s been going through the worst phase of his career. Scott shared the lead with Koepka with five holes to play in the final round but dropped out of a tie for second with Jon Rahm and Stewart Cink after he bogeyed the last hole and finished tied in fourth place. And what about Stewart Cink? The 45-year-old American who has the misfortune of being the only Major winner in recent history to be remembered not for his win (Cink won the 2009 Open Championship after a four-hole aggregate playoff with Tom Watson) but rather for the man he happened to beat, came close to getting that seemingly unshakeable monkey off his back.
None of the two Indians in the fray—Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma—made the cut but Sharma showed his mettle by shooting a one-under 69 on the first day. He seemed on course for the weekend until a few late bogies during the second round put paid to his chances. Sharma’s first season playing in the Majors and WGC events has been nothing short of spectacular: word on the street has it that he’s being nominated for the Arjuna award—one that he richly deserves.
Lahiri, out of sorts for a while now, showed signs of revival the week prior to the PGA at the World Golf Championships—Bridgestone Invitational where he notched up a tied-sixth—his first ever top-10 finish in a WGC event. Hopefully, the Bengaluru golfer will find his rhythm in the upcoming season. Both Lahiri and Sharma are just within the top 100 golfers in the world, while Gaganjeet Bhullar is 17 spots short of breaking in. While it has been a bit of a drop for Sharma, who, at one point, was almost on the verge of getting into the top 50, he would have taken this position had someone asked him at the beginning of 2018. I have a feeling that the 2018-19 season is going to be even bigger for the young man. What exciting times these are for Indian golf!
A golfer, Meraj Shah also writes about the game
