In his first majors tournament win, Brooks Koepka won the 117th U.S. Open with a record-tying score of 16-under-par last weekend at Erin Hills Golf Course in Wisconsin. Koepka’s win marks seven straight first-time winners for major tournaments since 2015. Koepka finished the weekend with scores of 67, 70, 68 and 67 over the four rounds, giving him a grand total of 272 points.
Throughout the weekend’s playing, the leaderboard was cluttered and no real winner was in sight. Koepka was tied for second place after Saturday’s competition. After three consecutive birdies on holes 14, 15 and 16 in the last round, Koepka started to break away and set himself up for tying the under-par record. Koepka finished with a score of 67 and tied Rory McIllroy’s record for the lowest score in relation to par in history. McIllroy set this record in 2011 at the U.S. Open.
Brian Harman, the leader after round three, tied for second along with No. 4 Hideki Matsuyama at 12-under. Tommy Fleetwood took fourth with 11-under, and Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele and Bill Haas all shot 10-under and tied for fifth, rounding out the top five.
Two Wisconsin natives competed in the U.S. Open. Steve Stricker tied for 16th place at five-under, going 73, 72, 69 and 69 over the four rounds of the tournament. Jordan Niebrugge finished with a plus one, tied for 35th, with scores of 73, 72, 73 and 71.
While the three top golfers in the world (Dustin Johnson, Rory McIllroy and Jason Day) did not compete, it was a chance for another new star to be born. At 27-years old, Koepka is well on his way to winning even more majors in the years to come. With many new first-timers winning major tournaments in recent years, golf is becoming one of the sports to watch this summer, with more majors yet to be played.