Made in Scotland
US Open winner Koepka recalls the night in Aviemore when he reached career crossroads
IT was the moment that proved the making of Brooks Koepka but so nearly became the last straw that convinced him to quit his career in golf.
And it happened right here in Scotland.
Speaking with the US Open trophy by his side at Erin Hills on Sunday night, it’s hard to imagine how close he came to packing it all in during one dark night in Aviemore that he describes as his lowest point.
Abandoning the conventional route that most American golfers tread on their way to the PGA Tour, Koepka joined the European Challenge Tour in an attempt to broaden his horizons.
And it appeared to be working, on the course at least.
With two wins already under his belt Koepka, then aged 22, sat on the eve of title No.3 in the Scottish Hydro Challenge at Spey Valley golf resort.
One shot off the lead after three rounds and playing like a dream, everything seemed to be well.
So looking back now he still can’t put a finger on exactly why he felt compelled to pick up his phone and dial 001.
Koepka said: “I called Blake Smith, my manager, right before I won the final Challenge Tour event to get to the European Tour. It was the night of the third round.
“I called him and said, ‘I don’t even want to play. I just want to go home.’ I don’t want to say I was homesick, I was just tired of golf. Tired of travelling.
“I just wanted to be home, even though I was right in contention at that point and was about to win the third one.
“I’ve never felt that way before or since. I don’t even know what was going on.
“It was one of those things, I think I had played so many weeks in a row, not a day off, it really got to me. That’s all I can say, I guess.”
Thankfully he slept on it, got up the next day and shot 68 to win the tournament by three shots, his third success triggering an instant promotion to the European Tour.
The next day he went to Sunningdale and qualified for The Open at Muirfield.
The rest is history. Two main tour wins – the Turkish Airlines Open and the PGA Tour’s Phoenix Open – and last year a Ryder Cup debut as part of America’s victorious side at Hazeltine.
Yet until Sunday, 27-year-old Koepka would beat himself up for being an underachiever.
So a Saturday night phone call from last year’s US Open champion and world No.1 Dustin Johnson was perfectly timed to remind him to go easy on himself.
He added: “Dustin called me and told me to stay patient. A bunch of people told me that.
“And I felt like I really stayed patient all week. Between conversations I’ve had with (coaches) Claude Harmon and Pete Cowen – they sat me down on Tuesday and we talked about staying patient.
“I felt like that has been the thing lately with me, why I haven’t really played that well. I’ve been trying to win so badly because I felt I’ve underachieved.
“I’d won once on the PGA Tour and once on the European Tour yet I felt like I put myself in contention so many other times.
“I’d given myself some good chances in Majors over the last few years and never really come through.
“I couldn’t stand the fact that I’d only won once on the PGA Tour. So to win my first Major in the United States is pretty special.”
Yet despite his defining success coming on home soil, Koepka recognises that the player he is today was honed in Europe.
On the course he had to learn a wider array of shots and be more imaginative in his game plans to cope with the varied styles of the European Tour’s courses and weather conditions in comparison to the PGA Tour.
Off the course the cultural experiences he took were life changing and character building.
He cites some of the good memories being the views of the Swiss Alps and swimming with sharks in South Africa.
Safe to say the recollections of
eating horse meat in Kazakhstan and the “20-minute” journey in Kenya that took three hours are filed under the heading “bad”.
He said: “That was scary and I was freaking out. But we got to the hotel eventually – and safely.”
On the whole, though, it was an immensely positive experience which Koepka believes made him a more complete player and a stronger character.
He said: “Going over to play the Challenge Tour was really cool.
“To get to travel the world at 21, 22 years old and do what you do for a living is pretty neat.
“I love travelling. It’s so much fun and some of the places we went to were pretty amazing.
“It helped me grow up a little bit and really figure out that hey, play golf, get it done and then you can really take this somewhere. I built a lot of confidence off that.
“That makes you stronger for the times when you struggle like I did in the early part of this year.
“During that struggle I just couldn’t get my mind to free up.
“But I’m past that now and everything’s fine.”
It’s better than fine. It’s a career-defining success for a guy who was born in the USA but made in Scotland.