History not on Koepka’s side
Third straight victory at major would be rare feat
Two-time defending PGA champ Brooks Koepka hasn’t won since July
Peter Thomson might have been up to his old tricks. He once described the Americans as the “greatest collection of golfers in the world” right before he captained an International team that annihilated the U.S. in the 1998 Presidents Cup.
So what to make of his prediction at Carnoustie nine years later? Tiger Woods was going for a third straight British Open title, a feat accomplished only six times in major championship history, most recently by Thomson in 1956.
“He has a chance to win eight row,” Thomson replied.
It wasn’t clear if Thomson was joking or trying to create even more attention for Woods. By the end of the week, it was moot as Woods tied for 12th. Woods won majors at a faster clip than anyone. He remains the only player to win multiple majors in consecutive years. But he never won the same major three straight times.
Neither did Jack Nicklaus. The one chance he had, Nicklaus missed the cut going for a third straight Masters. Tom Watson shared the 54-hole lead at St. Andrews in 1984 in his bid for a third straight British Open. He closed with 73 and finished two shots behind Seve Ballesteros.
The list of failures is much longer than the six men who actually won the same major back-to-back-to-back.
That’s why the biggest challenge facing Brooks Koepka as he goes for a third straight PGA Championship this week at the TPC Harding Park in San Francisco is more about history than his troublesome left knee and recent form.
It’s rare.
“I just want to play good golf. in
aIt’s simple,” Koepka said when he went to Bay Area in February to preview a PGA Championship that was supposed to be held in May before the COVID-19 pandemic upended golf’s calendar.
“You start thinking about all the things that could happen, that’s when nerve, everything else kind of creeps in. Just stay in the moment and keep plugging along.”
Koepka already has had one crack at a three-peat and showed why he can’t be overlooked. Trying to become the first player in more than a century to win the U.S. Open three straight times, he chased Gary Woodland all the way to the finish line at Pebble Beach and finished second.
Then it was all about Willie Anderson, the only player to win three straight U.S. Opens. Now it’s about Walter Hagen, who won the PGA Championship four straight times (1924-27) when it was match play.
Koepka won a thriller at Bellerive in 2018, when he set the PGA Championship scoring record at 264. He nearly blew a seven-shot lead last year at Bethpage Black before winning by two.
But this isn’t the same player. Koepka had stem cell treatment after last season because of a partially torn patella. Two weeks later, he slipped on a wet slab of concrete at the CJ Cup in South Korea and injured his left knee further, keeping him out for three months.
He has
For someone with history on the line, Koepka still has managed to avoid the spotlight in the weeks leading into the PGA Championship.
“We’re in different times now,” said Curtis Strange, part of the ESPN broadcast team who had his shot at three straight U.S. Opens in 1990. “All sports have been put on the back burner just a little bit . ... But it would be a hell of an accomplishment.” gone
ayear without winning.