Brooks Koepka is his own toughest critic.
After shooting a 5-under 65 at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England, to ensure a 12th top-10 finish in his last 16 majors, Koepka never cracked a smile during his post-round news conferences at the 149th British Open and summed up his effort with a sense of disdain.
“I mean I wouldn’t call it I competed,” he said. “It was more of a back-door Top 10 maybe, so wasn’t the best.”
Koepka, 31, was lurking heading into the weekend thanks to a 69-66 start and tweeted that he was “driving into the weekend,” a cheap shot at his favorite foil, Bryson DeChambeau, who had claimed his driver sucks. But Koepka bogeyed three of his first five holes in the third round en route to shooting 2-over 72 on Saturday and entered the final round nine strokes behind 54-hole leader Louis Oosthuizen.
“Definitely a missed opportunity,” Koepka said. “Didn’t play good enough Saturday. Doesn’t really matter what I finished today. I didn’t have a chance to win. That’s disappointing.”
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Koepka showed little rust despite saying he hadn’t touched a club in the two weeks ahead of the Open. On Saturday, he couldn’t fix his struggles with his irons on the fly.
“I was pulling shots with my irons just making poor swings,” he said. “It’s always something simple with me. It’s never really like swing mechanics or anything like that. It’s always setup. So, I got lined up a little right and usually when I do that, believe it or not, I tend to pull it knowing that the target is left. And just missed some shots where you can’t miss them, just some poor swings.”
Koepka’s final round may have only resulted in a “back-door top-10,” but it contained some Koepka brilliance. He played the four-hole stretch from Nos. 6-9 in 4 under, including an eagle at 7.
“Would’ve like to have the one on 18,” said Koepka, who missed a 5-foot putt at the last. “Birdie the par-5, 14 on the back, and, you know, 10 lipped out. But played solid today. Can’t complain. Just wish I could have yesterday back.”
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Koepka, a four-time major winner, limped around Augusta National on a bum leg and missed the cut at Masters, tied for second at the PGA Championship and finished T-4 at the U.S. Open. While he never seriously threatened at the British, Koepka remains one of the game’s best big-game hunters.
“I like when it’s tough. I like when everything is on the line. I like when the most pressure is on. I enjoy that. I think it’s fun,” he said.
But he has no love for the back-door top-10 finish. In fact, Koepka might say it sucks.
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