Brooks Koepka has lost his fear factor but will former Major monster ever get scary again?

Daily Record

06-06-2025

Can American star return to that once a frightening presence at Oakmont
Brilliant Brooks Koepka spent years striking deep fear into rivals on the Major scene.
Five wins in golf's biggest events still puts him on a par with Rory McIlroy.
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But his last outing is remembered more for a spat with a mouthy fan and a social-media picture of him buying beer in a shop after missing the cut. And, as Kopeka prepares for the next big one at the US Open, the question is whether that once-scary Major monster still exists or has it been caged for good?
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At the age of 35, the American star has been lifeless in the Majors for the past year and a half and that's a far cry from the time when he once bossed them.
Kopeka dominated the biggest events for over half a decade. In a six-year spell between 2017 and 2023, he won three PGA Championships, two US Opens and recorded six other top-five finishes.
During one outrageous stretch through the 2019 season, Kopeka didn't finish outside the top four in any of the Majors and once famously stated that they were the 'easiest' to win.
Asked to expand on that in the midst of his 2019 run prior to the PGA at Bethpage, he opined: '156 in the field, so you figure at least 80 of them I'm just going to beat. From there, you figure about half of them won't play well, so you're down to about maybe 35.
"And then from 35, some of them, pressure is going to get to them. It only leaves you with a few more and you've just got to beat those guys.'
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Koepka, of course, has had savage trouble since then with injuries, most notably a serious knee issue, that set him back severely. But he roared back and the switch to LIV Golf didn't seem to have an effect as he stormed to victory in the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill soon straight after a second place at The Masters behind Jon Rahm when he was already imbedded in the Saudi series having been one of the first key names to switch across. His work that year booked him a September place in The Ryder Cup side in Rome.
However, fast forward from then to now approaching the 125th Open at Oakmont next week, the man once notorious for bullying the big days is barely on the radar as a potential winner. Since that 2023 success at the PGA, the drop-off has been stark. Seventeenth at the US Open before an also-ran show at The Open at Hoylake. Last year, Koepka was unable to strike a blow as he failed to secure a Top 20 in any of the Majors and the descent has continued this term.
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At Augusta, while McIlroy was making history to win his career Grand Slam and match the mark of five majors, Kopeka was already long gone having missed the cut. That wasn't his first missed Masters weekend, but it was a different story with the PGA.
The three-time winner of the Wanamaker Trophy had done less than four rounds in his 12 previous appearances in the event until he got to Quail Hollow, but that record was crushed by a bruising dismissal following rounds of 75 and 76 leaving him nine-over par.
Naturally, a heckler is never far away in that situation and, as he made his way off one off the tees during the second round with playing partners Shane Lowry and Rickie Fowler, the obligatory LIV jibe was fired by one mouthpiece who called out that's what 'guaranteed money does to you, Brooks.' The golfer responded: 'Want to come down here and say it?' Fire in the belly, but not in the play.
Koepka still won twice on the LIV circuit last year, but the connection to that Tour and poor recent Major form is just too easy a reason to use.
Of course, 2016 champion at Oakmont Dustin Johnston has also become a non-factor in the big-four events since moving away from the PGA Tour with four missed cuts in his last six outings. Cameron Smith is nowhere in them recently, but the strong performances of DeChambeau, Rahm, Patrick Reed and others in Majors since making the move from the PGA Tour mean that's too simplistic an argument.
Whatever the reasons, Koepka, who is playing this week at LIV Virginia in build-up to the US Open, is not the Major monster that once scared the rest and it remains to be seen when, or if, he'll frighten his rivals in them again. Most golf fans surely hope he can.