Local golf pros marvel at Brooks Koepka’s PGA Championship win

Sunday’s final round of the 101st PGA Championship was jaw-dropping in its contrasts, most revolving around Brooks Koepka.

Koepka won his fourth major in 23 months, and in his last eight major starts. He also came close to becoming the first in PGA Tour history to choke away — his words — a seven-shot lead going into the final round.

Beastly Bethpage Black is now the site of the lowest 36-hole score shot in a major championship — Koepka’s 12-under 128. It was also home to an average score of nearly 74.5 Sunday, buoyed by the trio who shared second going into the final round, which averaged 77.

“The right guy ended up winning,” Hawaii Golf Hall of Famer Casey Nakama said. “It’s just a hard golf course. Sunday the course played like it was supposed to play.”

Sunday’s sheer madness and badness made for riveting theater. Koepka shot 7-under 63 opening day and no one else was better than 6 under the entire week, and the final day was still fascinating.

Only 10 golfers broke par, including Dustin Johnson (69), who lost by two and was the only player to make a charge.

Koepka shot 74 in a weird round that included “47 minutes of anarchy,” according to Golf Digest. He was 13 under and up six with eight holes to play. After four consecutive bogeys, he led Johnson by one.

Johnson, the world’s top-ranked player Sunday, then went from making a run to going in reverse. He bogeyed his next two holes despite New York fans chanting “DJ.”

Koepka — the world’s top-ranked player Monday — said the chant was the “best thing that could have happened” and helped him focus again. Kapalua’s Mark Rolfing, at Bethpage for The Golf Channel, also congratulated TGC colleague Brandel Chamblee for kicking Koepka over the top by questioning his toughness.

“He was really irritated by it …,” Rolfing says. “Koepka absolutely plays best with a chip on his shoulder. He looks for chips.”

He also looks for majors. Koepka, 29, has won just two non-majors in six years on tour. Of Tiger Woods’ 81 wins, 46 came before he was 30.

Reigning Aloha Section PGA player — and senior player — of the year Kevin Hayashi is still astonished by what Koepka has accomplished the past two years.

“I think nowadays everybody focuses on majors,” he says. “That’s how you rank players. Four of his last eight … that’s kind of remarkable.

“The guy just has no fear. He can hit the ball farther than Tiger. He is mentally tough like Tiger. I don’t think he’ll win as many tour events because to win 80 is kinda crazy. Maybe not in our lifetime will somebody win more than that, but right now I see Koepka playing hard in the majors and having a good life the rest of the time.”

That thought intrigues Kailua pro Scott Simpson.

“It is puzzling to me why he hasn’t won more often at the other tournaments,” the 1987 U.S. Open champ says. “He has been up there a lot.

“The courses he has won on are really tough and have rewarded his long drives and good putting. His game, and unflappable attitude, are pretty much built for the hardest courses and when par is a good score. He sure plays with a lot of confidence, but never gets rattled. I think that is fun to watch.”

Koepka, the reigning player of the year, has a target of at least 10 major championships in his career. Only Jack Nicklaus (18), Woods (15) and Walter Hagen (11) have achieved that. He also announced last Tuesday that majors were the easiest events to win.

“Never in 33 years of broadcasting have I seen player do what he did,” Rolfing said, “which was basically call his shot, like Babe Ruth at Wrigley Field.

“He said here is how I look at this — of the 156 players, I can beat half before we start. That leaves 80 and half of those will not play well. That leaves 35 guys and of those 30 are going to choke under the pressure and I’m not. So basically I just have to beat a handful of guys. All he said came out to be true.”

Ultimately. Even Koepka called Sunday’s victory his most satisfying and “the most excited I’ve ever been in my life” because of those 47 frenetic minutes.

Rolfing believes Koepka has today’s “best all-around game by far,” not that you would know by watching him here. He has never played the Sony Open in Hawaii and was dead last at the 2018 Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Plantation.

Rolfing hopes he can get Koepka and Chamblee together in a Kapalua studio at next January’s TOC and start a little fire.

“He doesn’t play with a chip on his shoulder here …,” Rolfing says. “What kind of chip can you find at the most beautiful spot in Kapalua a week after Christmas?”