Been wild ride for defending champion

It’s not too often the U.S. Open has such an unheralded defending champion. But Brooks Koepka has strolled into Shinnecock Hills this week pretty well under the radar, a wrist injury limiting his starts this year after he won at Erin Hills in Wisconsin last June.

“I mean, you go from playing some of the best golf I’ve probably ever played to probably being at the lowest point professionally that I’ve been. It wasn’t easy,” Koepka said in the lead-up to his first-round tee time with Bubba Watson and Jason Day at 7:40 a.m. Thursday. “The past, I guess, six months, maybe eight months, we kind of — we knew about the wrist injury a little bit longer than we told people. But I knew it was bugging me and just couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Thankfully, we’ve got it situated now where I’m 100-percent past it. But I’ll tell you what, it was a long four months. It wasn’t anything I’d wish upon anybody.”

Koepka is the epitome of the new-age golfer, which means he is an athlete first who just happened to choose golf. His strength is his biggest asset. He finished last season ranked seventh on the PGA Tour in averaging 311.1 yards per drive.

But some detractors say that aggressiveness through the ball is what caused the partially torn tendon in his left wrist. In January, just before shutting it down from that injury, he described the pain as being “like someone’s jabbing a knife in my wrist or hand.”

The 28-year-old had to miss the Masters, but was able to return in April in New Orleans, playing five events in preparation for the U.S. Open, with the best finish a tie for second at the Fort Worth Invitational three weeks ago.

“It’s crazy how fast this year has kind of flown by,” Koepka said. “Obviously, last year was pretty special. Any time you can win a major, U.S. Open, it’s what you dream of as a little kid. It’s gone by a little too quick. But I’m playing well right now, so just continue what I’m doing.”

The pressure of a major never seemed to bother Koepka even before the breakthrough at Erin Hills, He has five top-10 finishes in 17 career major-championship starts. But there has not been a back-to-back U.S. Open winner since Curtis Strange in 1988 and 1989, and he was the first to do it since Ben Hogan in 1950 and 1951. So there is certainly a big task in front of Koepka, but it’s one that he is embracing.

“To finally win [a major] was so gratifying, to be honest with you,” Koepka said. “Hopefully do it again this week.”