Refreshed Koepka ready for major run
SO U T H P O RT, England — When we last saw Brooks Koepka, he was hoisting the U.S. Open trophy toward the Wisconsin sky last month at Erin Hills.
He has not played a tournament round since.
But he’s the only player in the 156-player 146th British Open f ield this week at Royal Birkdale with a chance to win two consecutive ma jo r ch a mp io n - ships.
Koepka’s plan all along was to shut it down for four weeks after the U.S. Open — win or lose — before playing the British. He took it to the extreme, though, declining other opportunities offered of major championship winners like appearing on late-night talk shows.
Koepka wanted no part of any of that, preferring to slip back into the shadows from which he emerged at Erin Hills.
“I’m refreshed,’’ Koepka said Tuesday after a practice round. “I was playing the entire time. [The time off ] didn’t have anything to do with the win. I planned to take some time off and kind of regroup there in the middle of the season, just to kind of finish the back half of it off. I thought it was important.
“So as far as what I’ve been up to, I was home there the last week, got over [to England] on Friday. I’ve been ready to prepare for this and get back into it. I’m kind of excited to get back inside the ropes. Four weeks off is quite a long time, so I’m excited.’’
Koepka, as low-key as players come, said he didn’t find himself missing the competition while he chilled out at home in Florida.
“I found it pretty easy to get away,’’ he said. “I was kind of not looking for a break, but I kind of needed one, more mentally than anything. And it was nice to have a few weeks off. But last week, I started getting into it and getting antsy to get back out here.’’
While Ko e p ka called the four weeks o ff “a nice little break,’’ he, too, still stings from failing to qualify for the British Open last year.
“So, it’s good to be back and play some links golf,’’ he said.
Earlier in Koepka’s career, he cut his teeth as a pro playing on the European Tour, believing that was a better way for him to gain experience than the PGA Tour, which is more difficult to qualify for.
“I think it was a maturity thing,’’ he said. “Coming over here was important for my career. I needed to get over here and just play, play golf for four rounds, and not trying to get over on Monday and qualify [for PGA Tour events]. It was the plan all along to come over here, and obviously it worked out pretty well. I enjoyed it.
“I had the best time I’ve ever had being over here, playing the Challenge Tour [the European Tour’s version of the PGA Tour’s Web.com Tour]. We had four guys packed in a taxi, trying to go from place to place, from the airport to the golf course, which is pretty fun. The camaraderie over here is pretty unique and special. I love that. I thought it was really cool.’’
At Erin Hills, Koepka overwhelmed the golf course with his profound length and seized the title on the final-round back nine. This week he will use a slightly different strategy.
“I love links golf,’’ he said. “I think it’s the best kind of golf you can play [with] so much imagination that goes into it. You can play 10 different shots from the middle of the fairway, and I think that’s so cool. You’ve really got to be creative. It’s not just a stock shot like it is in America.
“You just fly it pin-high and hope it stops. Over here you can run it up, you can fly it there, too, if you want. But you can be so creative, and there’s so many different shots. The way my mind kind of works, it benefits me. I think that’s why I look at the last [time I played in a British Open] at St. Andrews. … I played well there. Playing over here for two years, you play a lot of links golf and you learn to love it and I have.’’