Brooks Koepka, the baseball aficionado with giant biceps who has become a specialist in winning majors

four years ago a streams koepka some called him “the specialist”. In a calendar that in the last decade has been filled with tournaments that distribute large sums of money and that extend the season to play – if possible – 50 weeks a year, the American golfer, now 33, has been able to slip between 2017 and 2019 nothing less than four titles, two second places and as many top ten in the 11 Majors played (Only he didn’t play at the 2018 Masters). There were two US Opens and two PGA Championships during that time. From there he went to number 1 in the world, logically and almost non-stop.

Now, at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, this muscular player with giant biceps and who is even more excited about watching a baseball game than defining a tournament on the 72nd holehe just hit his third PGA Championship, perhaps the least recognized of the four Majors but which allowed him to get rid of the anger at the pronounced collapse he had after the first two rounds of the last Masters -he was -12 years old after two fantastic rounds of 65 and 67 shots- and finished second. The consecration, this time, came with a total of 271 shots, nine under par, and two ahead of compatriot Scottie Scheffler and Norwegian Viktor Hovland.

Seduced by Saudi Arabian petrodollars and the figure of Greg NormanMany thought that Koepka could stagnate in his game by joining a circuit without great pretensions like the LIV Golf. These are tournaments of only 54 holes, with no qualifying cut-offs and with a distant calendar, with much less demand and pressure than the American circuit. However, his very high competitive spirit and his desire to prove his worth were stronger and in this way he ended up prevailing.

Koepka has reached the pinnacle of golf through the curves. She chose to travel to Europe to improve and get used to all types of fields and climates. To play cold and on uneven greens and not on thethe replicated and luxurious resorts where the PGA Tour takes place every week.

He’s done the course American golfers don’t. Allied with Peter Uihlein, son of Titleist’s CEO, he enlisted in the Challenge circuit, the second European division. And in Spain he found his first victory at the Catalonia Open in 2012. Then three more victories would come the following year before returning to the United States where he began his climb to the elite, where he reached his card in 2014.

Many years ago I discovered golf by accident. Without metaphors: when he was 10, a car accident prevented him from practicing contact sports for a long time. He had to leave baseball (paternal legacy) and devoted himself to golf. It didn’t take long for him to realize he was better off with a bat that was lighter than the bat.

He dreamed of entering the University of Florida, but his talent was not convincing enough to receive a scholarship and he had to settle for going to Florida State. In fact, the father did not have high hopes for the future of his eldest son. “At best, I was hoping he could put in some good performances to earn himself an invitation to a tournament,” he once said.

Everyone knew Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy would do what they did. But no one knew Koepka would be the player he was. As an amateur he was nothing special, when he turned pro he had to go down in the “mud”. AND today he is one of the five best players in the world over one ranking.

His level of play was on the rise, but recognition did not accompany him. Today it’s a fun throwback, but in 2015 the Phoenix Open tee-off announcer billed it as Brooks’ “Cupcake.”

Twists and turns, the tournament worker probably learned the entrant’s name for the final round because Koepka won his first PGA title there.