Brooks Koepka wins second straight US Open

Daniel Berger, Tony Finau, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson were tied for the lead at 3-over entering the final round of U.S. Open 2018 today (Sunday, June 17) in NY.

Koepka’s birdie at the par-5 16th stretched his lead to two shots over Tommy Fleetwood, who tied the U.S. Open single-round record with a 63.

Brooks Koepka battled through two tough afternoons at Shinnecock Hills over the weekend to become the first repeat victor at the U.S. Open since Curtis Strange in 1988-89 and just the second since Ben Hogan in 1950-51.

He trotted after it and when the ball was about 15 feet beyond the hole, and still trickling, he hit it back towards the cup.

Justin Rose, who putted brilliantly in the worst of the conditions to sit one shot off the lead, described himself as “shell-shocked”.

“When you finish you always feel like you’re going to be a bit short, but we’ll see”, added Fleetwood, a victor of four tournaments on the European Tour and in his first season as a PGA Tour member.

Everything about 2018’s event from the scoring perspective was the inverse of the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills.

Finau and Berger both notched six birdies in their four-under efforts. Fleetwood has birdies on the second, third, sixth and seventh holes – he bogeyed the ninth – and a string of four straight birdies on Nos.

The birdie moved him to 4 under for the U.S. Open, which is where he finished the day. It brought back memories of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock in 2004 when the course became almost unplayable in windy, dry conditions. He would wait another three hours to watch Koepka best him by one.

‘Not often you walk off the 18th feeling a smidgeon of disappointment after a 63, is it?’ he said cheerfully.

With scores fluctuating on a round-by-round basis, Johnson’s differential between the second and third round was 10 shots – 67 on day two followed by a 77 yesterday.

Davis promised to slow down the course for Sunday’s final round. His biggest issue? The 72 putts he took over the weekend on Shinnecock’s browned greens.

Brooks Koepka became the first U.S. Open champion in 29 years to successfully defend his title when he clinched a one-stroke victory on Sunday.

Finau, who is from Salt Lake City and graduated from West High School, is in a four-way tie for first place along with Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson. But a bogey at No. 9 would prove the beginning of his end. Finau (71) fought back to even on the day but made an expensive double at No. 18 to drop from T-3 to solo fifth. America’s domination of the majors continues, and a controversial, extraordinary week on Long Island had got a better finish than it surely deserved.