Following his victory last month at the PGA Championship, Brooks Koepka will undoubtedly enter this week’s US Open full of confidence. Along with his victory, the five-time Major champion also came close at Augusta National the month prior, when he faltered in the final round to finish second at The Masters to Jon Rahm.
However, the American made no mistake at Oak Hill in May as he put on a consummate and clinical ball-striking display to win by two strokes over Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland.
It marked a remarkable turnaround for the LIV golf star, who endured a torrid year with a knee injury in 2022, which saw him fail to make the cut at The Masters and The Open while finishing 55th at the PGA Championship and US Open that year.
Knee injuries seemingly banished, and with impressive showings in the first two Majors of 2023, the 33-year-old will be one of the favourites to perform well at Los Angeles Country Club in a tournament that he has already won twice.
Those back-to-back victories came in 2017 and 2018 and, with three top-five finishes as well, it is clear Koepka has the ability and know-how to thrive in the often difficult US Open conditions.
However, it is not just his impressive track record and recent form that points to Koepka being in contention at LACC, but also a statistical quirk based on recent winners of the US Open.
According to Twitter's OWGR expert Nosferatu (@VC606), the average world ranking of the US Open winner in the last five and ten years was 13 which, coincidently or not, is the exact spot that Koepka currently resides in the world rankings.
The average world rankings of the #USOpen winners in the last 5 years was ~13The average world rankings of the #USOpen winners in the last 10 years was ~13The current #13 in #OWGR is... @BKoepka 😳June 12, 2023
It remains to be seen whether Koepka can capture his sixth Major championship but, he will need to harness all his previous experience to stave off other contenders from the stellar 156-man field.
Koepka gets underway at 1.54pm local on Thursday with 2021 Masters Champion Hideki Matsuyama and World No.3 Rory McIlroy, who will look to build on his three successive top-ten finishes and capture his first Major since the 2014 PGA Championship.
England’s Matt Fitzpatrick defends the trophy that he won at the Country Club in Brookline last year, while World No.1 Scottie Scheffler will seek to add to his Masters triumph in April last year.
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