Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Tee to Green: Brooks Koepka bolstered by his ‘wobble’

FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK - MAY 19: Brooks Koepka of the United States sits alongside the Wanamaker Trophy as he speaks to the media during a press conference after winning during the final round of the 2019 PGA Championship at the Bethpage Black course on May 19, 2019 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK - MAY 19: Brooks Koepka of the United States sits alongside the Wanamaker Trophy as he speaks to the media during a press conference after winning during the final round of the 2019 PGA Championship at the Bethpage Black course on May 19, 2019 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

If anything, the little wobble Brooks Koepka endured in his procession to the PGA Championship title is going to make him all the more formidable.

As often happens in the PGA it seems, there was a little artificial excitement at Bethpage on Sunday night. The imperious Koepka cruise to the Wanamaker Trophy was taking on a little water.

Dustin Johnson got within two at one point midway on the back nine, but it’s less likely DJ backed off (as has been his custom in most majors bar one blinding example) than simply the brutal Black course, with 30mph winds and gusting, caught up with him.

It also did with Brooks. But he was like this writer with a long deadline…it’s starting to get close to squeaky-bum time, but he’s always had plenty of room and it’s going to get done in time.

In the end, there was no lasting damage, the trophy went back into his hands, and the experience will be more educational than anything else down the line.

Brooks hasn’t had a whole lot of wobbles in his major career thus far. There was the tee shot in Rae’s Creek at the 12th at the Masters, but the three he won prior to Bethpage were, for the most part, fairly stress-free, as much as these can ever be.

Well, at least they were for him, who seems utterly immune to pressure and almost closed off to anything but his own “super-focus”.

Now he’s been “rattled” and come through it, can we expect anything else than an even-steelier resolve the next time he’s in the mix?

Nothing is guaranteed. Rory McIlroy was supposed to dominate after he won successive majors in 2014. He hasn’t won one since.

After Rory, it seemed Jordan Spieth would contend at every major after his blistering form in 2015. Getting a tied third this week was actually regarded as something of a comeback for him.

As we mentioned last week, because Tiger Woods dominated so overwhelmingly for just about five years from 1997 to 2002, and again from 2004 to 2006, we expect all domination to be like that. Instead, it’s usually much more of a streaky kind of thing.

Is this just a hot streak? Certainly, those of us who pinned this one to Brooks way in advance of the event can’t claim any miracle prescience. Bethpage set up so well for him (and Johnson, the other Bash Brother, was duly second) that it was pretty obvious what kind of player was going to win.

Pebble Beach and Royal Portrush are not really the same kind of challenge, mercifcully. There’s every likelihood that Koepka and Johnson will challenge to win at both, but the list of possible winners at both venues is far deeper than it was at Bethpage, and the odds are therefore greatly reduced.

But against that is that Koepka clearly has the measure of the majors, although his comment about them being “easy” wins this year’s award for quote-most-taken-out-of-context.

Four wins out of the last eight. He missed the cut in his first two majors, and in his 14 in the last three years (he missed two due to injury) he’s been outside the top 20 just twice.

He’s a contender every time he tees it up in one of these things. Right now, we are definitely in the Koepka era.

Golf being golf, unlike The Age of Tiger, this era may be a short one. But I have a feeling this is the closest to complete domination we’re likely to see for some time.

Tiger: less rust, more reality

From the double bogey that started his week to rather meekly dropping outside the cut mark just as he needed to rally, Tiger Woods was a massive buzz-kill at Bethpage.

Quickly identified as the cause was not playing between the Masters and the PGA, and the inevitable rust as a result.

It was only a month. If anything, his own human reaction to the cathartic relief of victory at Augusta might have been more of a factor.

Who knows, amidst the usual fog from manager Mark Steinberg, whether he actually could play between Augusta and Bethpage?

More illuminating was the WAY he played. Misses right and left. Real struggles with the pace of the greens.

Tiger can still frighten people, the Masters proved that. But it’s certainly not going to be every week. His game – maybe his body – is not robust enough.

The Open must reject Daly’s cart

John Daly, we are told, remains a box-office draw, hence the PGA’s allowing him to play from a cart at Bethpage.

Daly can’t walk a full 18, due to osteoarthritis, a common ailment in golfers, and treatable. The USGA rejected his plea to use a buggy at the US Senior Open. The R&A are, reportedly, “giving consideration” to his request for one at Portrush.

It’s hard to believe the R&A are giving this even a cursory thought. Maybe they’re being polite – they are always deferential to former champions, no matter what the circumstances.

But this should be where they draw the line. Daly’s appeal – whatever it is nowadays – is no additional attraction at a sold-out Portrush.

The Open has proper standards to maintain. Everyone walks. No carts.