U.S. Open 2019: Power ranking the top 10 golfers at Pebble Beach
To quote Dan Hicks: “Expect anything different?”
It’d be foolish at this point to ride with anyone else but Koepka at the majors these days. He’s not at Tiger levels of “Brooks vs. the field,” but it feels close.
The 29-year-old is a four-time major champ and two-time defending U.S. Open champion. He won at Erin Hills in 2017 and at Shinnecock in 2018.
Koepka won the 2019 PGA Championship a few weeks back at Bethpage Black in dominating fashion for the first 36 holes before outlasting the field on the weekend to win.
He’s notorious for dialing in his focus on the majors, so a T50 last week at the Canadian Open is not a big deterrent.
"“I feel like my short game is where it needs to be. Putting really well. Chipping it really well,” Koepka said Sunday. “Just I didn’t hit fairways with the driver. Everything was kind of leaking to the right.”"
He went on to say he’s confident in his “fairway finder” shot he’s got in the arsenal, one which he claims he didn’t utilize often in Canada.
Other recent results for Koepka include the near miss at the Masters (T2) and solo fourth at the Byron Nelson. This will be just his 13th start of 2019. He’ll be as fresh as anyone in the field and will also be the most unbothered.
His confidence is sky high, as it should be.
Next. U.S. Open: Pebble Beach identifies the greats. dark
A short, narrow course like Pebble isn’t the ideal setup for Koepka, but he’s still got the tools to get it done here. He ranks 14th on Tour in total strokes gained and is top 20 in SG off the tee, approach and tee to green.