The list of golfers with double-digit wins in major tournaments is select, indeed.
Jack Nicklaus tops the group with 18 victories. Tiger Woods has 15, his drive to catch up to Nicklaus stalled because of injuries. And then there’s Walter Hagen, who won 11 from 1914-29.
Three. That’s it. But Brooks Koepka says his goal is to make it four.
Speaking Tuesday at The Los Angeles Country Club ahead of the U.S. Open, which begins Thursday, Koepka told reporters he is confident he can reach at least 10 wins in majors. After his victory last month at the PGA Championship, he’s halfway there with five.
“Double digits, that’s what I’m trying to get to,” Koepka said. “I don’t think it’s out of the question for me. I think the way I’ve prepared, the way I’ve kind of suited my game for these things is going to help me.
“And like I said, I’m only 33, so I’ve definitely got quite a bit of time. I’ve just got to stay healthy and keep doing what I’m doing.”
He clearly saves his best for the majors. He has nine PGA Tour victories — more than half of them in majors.
Koepka has won the U.S. Open twice, back to back in 2017 and ’18. They were different experiences; he was victorious with a 16-under 272 at Erin Hills in Wisconsin in 2017, then finished with a 1-over 281 at Shinnecock Hills in New York the following year. He’s spent this week learning about The Los Angeles Country Club, which is hosting its first U.S. Open.
“It’s a tough golf course. These bunkers are incredibly soft, which I’ve found quite interesting,” he said. “If you’re in these fairway bunkers, it’s extremely penalizing because you’re not going to get a good lie, number one, and it’s not like the ball is going to funnel to the middle of the bunker.
“If it goes into the lip it’s going to stay there. It could plug. Or if it gets in the back, the rough around these bunkers is quite difficult, too, so it’s never going to quite chase in.”
Koepka, currently affiliated with LIV Golf, finished T2 at the Masters this spring, his second tie for second (2019). His best finish at The Open Championship, T4, also came in 2019.
He’s won the PGA Championship three times, including in 2018 and ’19.
Aside from Woods, who has played only a limited schedule the past few years and currently is recovering from ankle surgery, Phil Mickelson (six) is the only active player with more wins in majors than Koepka.
Koepka’s PGA win at Oak Hill in May was the culmination of a lengthy recovery from a difficult knee injury he sustained in a fall at his home in 2021. He dislocated his knee, which led to a shattered kneecap and a torn medial patellofemoral ligament. And given what he went through to return to the top of his game, Koepka said that major win was special.
“They all mean something different, but this last one, for all the stuff I had to deal with, all the pain, the tears, all the stuff that went into it — like I said, there’s probably five, seven people in this whole world that really know what I went through and that were there kind of every step of the way. I think they enjoyed it maybe even more than I did,” he said.
–Field Level Media