GolfPlus July 2018 Digital Edition (July 2018) | Page 31

)HDWXUH
Patrick Reed
Tommy Fleetwood
lowest round in championship history. On
a day when he converted eight birdie putts
totaling 161 feet, his 8½-footer for No. 9
just curled off to the right on the par-4 18th.
His 63 was the sixth in U.S. Open history and
just the second in a final round. Johnny Miller
famously posted that score 45 years ago at
Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club to complete a
six-stroke rally for the title.
“I thought if the conditions were a bit
more like yesterday, I’d have felt a lot more
comfy in the clubhouse,” said Fleetwood,
who finished fourth last year. “I’d have felt I
had a bit more of a chance.
“I’ve got nothing but respect for how
well Brooks did, just to hole the putts at the
right time. He kept it together, and he’s a
world-class player.”
re,
When Fleetwood posted his score,
Koepka and the rest contenders still had
ine
nine holes left. Shinnecock’s inward nine
ate
had not treated the former Florida State
irst
University All-American kindly over the first
three rounds. Koepka was 6 over par, with
just three birdies. And at the par-3 11th,
he could have easily lost control of the
steering wheel. Converting a 13-footer for
bogey portended a stretch of clutch putts.
He made a 6-footer for par on No. 12, and
after hacking out of deep rough on the par-
4 14th hole, he got up and down from 62
yards out, holing an 8½-footer for par to
maintain his one-stroke edge. The coup de
grace was the 16th hole, a par 5 that none
of the other players who finished in the top
10 managed to birdie, including Fleetwood.
n
Johnso
Dustin
Koepka stuffed his wedge approach from
122 yards to 4 feet, which he converted for
a two-stroke lead. Even a 72nd-hole bogey
couldn’t prevent him from hoisting the
trophy.
“It’s a fun week,” said Koepka. “I enjoy
the test. I enjoy being pushed to the limit.
Sometimes you feel like you are about to
break mentally, but that’s what I enjoy.
I enjoy hard golf courses. I enjoy playing
about the toughest in golf you are ever
going to play.”
GolfPlus
JULY
2018
37