A Week for the Record Brook(e/s)
Brook(e/s) have been dominating the golf world this week. Austin Evans goes into the finer points of their performances, and what it says about the landscape of professional golf.
On Sunday afternoon, Brooks Koepka broke through and won
the United States Open for his first major in Erin, Wisconsin. On the opposite side of Lake Michigan, 19 year-old Canadian golf phenomenon Brooke Henderson won her fourth LPGA tour event at the Meijer Classic. Both are known for their tremendous talent and ball-striking ability, but this week showed that their games are well rounded, and they are here to stay.
Going into the US Open at Erin Hills, there was more talk about how the golf course would play than who would play it the best. Many writers, myself included, thought that this course would let the cream rise to the top, leading to a win by a top five player. Instead, the top three players in the world missed the cut by a wide margin.
This Open saw surprise contenders Brian Harmon and Tommy Fleetwood remain relevant late into the final round. While thoroughbreds Rickie Fowler and Hideki Matsuyama provided strong pushes that ultimately came up short, this tournament will be remembered for Brooks Koepka’s dominant 16-under performance.
Koepka put on a ball striking display to be remembered. He hit over 80% of his fairways and greens for the week, which is nearly unheard of for a US Open. Even so, it was the birdie putts he made on the back nine on Sunday that allowed him to walk up the 18th fairway with a four shot lead in tow. With the win, Koepka will likely land on this years President’s Cup team (yawn), but it should be mentioned that it was last year’s Ryder Cup that helped him flourish at Erin Hills.
Smiths Falls native Brooke Henderson is one of the most fun players to watch on the LPGA Tour. When she is on her “A” game, she is tough to beat.
Just ask Lydia Ko.
She put that skill on display this week in a two shot victory victory over Michelle Wie and Lexi Thompson. This was her fourth career win and she’s only 19 years old.
I think as golf fans we just need to sit back and enjoy her greatness and try not to get too swept up in the incredible resume she has already achieved. As runner’s up Wie and Thompson know all to well, being so good so young is not the easiest thing to handle with all the obligations that go into being a professional golfer. So far, Brooke has been able to manage the week in-week out grind of the tour, not to mention the weight of a nation’s golfing hopes, and still exceed expectations. As someone who used to play in junior tournaments with Brooke, it has been awesome to watch her accomplish what she has been able to do, and she deserves all the acclaim that she receives.
This week in golf has taught us that winning in the professional ranks is not easy. It has never been easy. Despite what Jack, Tiger and DJ have done to golf courses over the years, golf will find a way to humble you. But as is often the case, talent eventually prevails.
Austin is TheOcho.ca’s golf contributor. He also writes about basketball and hosts The Ocho Top Ten podcast with TheOcho.ca EIC Riley Evans. Follow Austin on Twitter at @austevans24.
