Tough course or easy, Brooks Koepka repeats as US Open champ
Brooks Koepka poses with the U.S. Open trophy after winning the 2018 U.S. Open on Sunday, June 17, 2018 at Shinnecock Hills Country Club in Southampton, N.Y. (Brian Ciancio/TNS)
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Brooks Koepka has the game to win a U.S. Open on any course.
One year after Koepka overpowered the wide fairways of Erin Hills in a U.S. Open remembered for low scoring, he navigated his way through the brutal conditions of Shinnecock Hills and closed with a 2-under 68 to become the first repeat champion in 29 years.
Curtis Strange, the last player to go back-to-back in this major, watched the entire final round Sunday as the Fox Sports reporter on the ground, and they shared a brief hug off the 18th green after Koepka tapped in for bogey and a one-shot victory.
He captured his second major on Sunday. It would not have been possible without his 72 on Saturday in conditions so severe the last 45 players to tee off in the third round didn’t break par. The USGA conceded the course was over the top and pledged to get it right for the final round.
No one took advantage like Tommy Fleetwood, who made eight birdies — none of the two par 5s — and became the sixth player to shoot 63 in the U.S. Open. That got him within one shot of Koepka, who still had 11 holes to play.
But he never caught him and had to settle for the silver medal.