Five-time major winning Brooks Koepka reckons the more chaos, the easier it gets for the champion American.
Koepka tees-up in this week’s 123rd hosting of the U.S. Open a favourite to make it three U.S. Open titles to match his trio of PGA Championship triumphs.
And it could also have easily been two major victories in 2023 from as many events, had he not folded over the final round of the Masters.
But in this first major championship since the shock news that greeted the golf world earlier last week and Koepka reckons this week could right up his victory street.
“Like I’ve said, the more chaotic things get, the easier it gets for me,” said Koepka.
“Everything starts to slow down and I am able to focus on whatever I need to focus on while everybody else is dealing with distractions, worried about other things.
“I think there’s a few reasons (I peak at majors), but I think it’s definitely one of them. I enjoy the chaos.”
And in speaking of not being bothered by any ‘chaos’, that also included the shock news from earlier last week,
“I haven’t paid too much attention to it, honestly. I’ve been trying to prep for this week. I’m just trying to make sure I come into a major championship — there’s four weeks a year I really care about and this is one of them, and I want to play well”, he said.
“So I wasn’t going to waste any time on news that happened last week. I saw it. I was sitting at Grove at the bar there having breakfast and I saw it on TV. Watched a little bit of the interview, and that was it. Just went out and practiced”.
Koepka, as highlighted, tees-up as the most in-form of the world top golfers. He’s back to full fitness. His partner is expecting the couples first child, so he’s in a good place as he seeks to move to be among just 14 players in the history of the game to have won six or more majors.
“Growing up you knew how many majors Jack (Nicklaus) has, you knew how many Tiger (Woods) has, you knew how many Arnold Palmer has, you knew how many Gary Player, (Tom) Watson, all these legends”, Koepka added.
“But I never knew how many PGA Tour events or wins they had total.
“That’s what you’re judged on. It’s major championships. You look at basketball, you’re judged on how many championships you’ve won, not how many games you’ve won. Same thing in every sport.
“Double digits, that’s what I’m trying to get to. I don’t think it’s out of the question for me. I think the way I’ve prepared, the way I’ve kind of suited my game for these things is going to help me.
“And I’m only 33, so I’ve definitely got quite a bit of time. I’ve just got to stay healthy and keep doing what I’m doing.
“I just love when maybe somewhere closer to even par wins,” Koepka, the world number 13 said. “If it’s going to be a birdie-fest where 20, 21 under wins, that’s really not my style.
“I just feel like I can outlast everybody when it comes to having to par things to death or just kind of wearing guys out on the golf course and just mentally beating you and knowing when it’s my time to kind of take that opportunity and go with it.”
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