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Brooks Koepka's journey from European backwaters to triple major champion

Brooks Koepka claimed his second major of the year at the weekend when he added the PGA Champions...



Brooks Koepka's journey fr...
Videos

Brooks Koepka's journey from European backwaters to triple major champion

Brooks Koepka claimed his second major of the year at the weekend when he added the PGA Championship to the US Open he won at Shinnecock Hills in June.

The American finished two shots clear of a resurgent Tiger Woods and now joins a select group of players, including Padraig Harrington, to have claimed three major titles. 

Koepka's journey to the summit of the game has seen him take the scenic route as Off the Ball's Joe Molloy explained on Monday's OTBAM, "Koepka is an interesting character, like he's far too cool for golf!," he told Ger. "You've seen him, I'm sure, he's absolutely ripped, he's an athlete - he has a big chip on his shoulder. He's a kind of a laconic guy - he doesn't say very much. 

"He's, sort of, felt a little over-looked throughout his career. He only started playing golf because he was in a car crash and hurt his face - I think he fractured his sinus - he got his face banged-up in a car crash and was told 'You can't play contact sports for a while' so he just took up golf. 

"His dad was a decent player in his local club - Brooks ended his dad's five year winning stretch at the local golf club - when he was 13, he became the champion there - so he was good from early on.

"But, he was overlooked by Florida, which was the university he wanted to go to. He was then over-looked for the US Walker Cup team - the amateur version of the Ryder Cup - was peeved about that and almost said 'Well, sod everyone' and took off to Europe and played on the Challenge Tour on the European Tour in 2012.

"He's 28 years old now and I remember being at an Irish Open 2012/13 territory and just chatting to one of the officials there, one of the media guys, and he said 'Do you ever watch Challenge Tour?' and I said 'No, god no. I'm not that bad' and he said 'Brooks Keopka is unbelievable...he's going to win on the European Tour next season and then I think he's going to win majors' and you're kind of saying 'Ok, I've heard this before,' you'll keep an eye out for him.

"Even at Shinnecock in June at the US Open, he was obviously defending champion and he was a bit miffed that he was watching the Golf Channel first round and he wasn't even up, he didn't have a great first round, but wasn't even up at the bottom as 'notable others' - he wasn't even there and he's defending champion. 

"He had an opening round of 69 this week and nobody wanted to interview him. There is this, kind of, sense that he feels: 'I can't be ignored now.' He doesn't play up to the galleries, he doesn't play up to the media, he's like 'I've won three in six and you just can't ignore me' so I think he could be the late bolter. 

"If we put McIlroy as the elder statesman of the post-Tiger generation so you have the likes of Spieth, who has three majors as well, think how much we talk about Spieth - he's level with Spieth.

"Dustin Johnson still only has one - the greatest underachiever of the 21st century in golf. Justin Rose only has one, Jason Day only has one - this guy has come in with three. 

"He's completely unruffled - he doesn't give a shit."

Listen to Monday's OTBAM Pod here:

Brooks Koepka's journey from European backwaters to triple major champion

00:00:00 / 00:00:00

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