Page 20 - Sports Illustrated Kids (October 2018)

Presidents Cup team GLIMPSES OF GREATNESS
Koepka tamed a windy U.S. Open course
and did not get selected
in June (right), winning by a stroke before
as a captain’s pick, holding off a furious Woods rally to claim
despite having eight the PGA Championship (below), his third
top 10 finishes that major victory.
year. After an injury to

Jim Furyk opened
another slot, Koepka
was snubbed—again.
A fan approached
him at the Players
Championship in May
and asked for a photo.
He was preparing to
smile when she handed
him her phone. Could
he snap a shot of her
with Johnson—
Koepka’s best friend in
golf and the world
No. 1? “It happens all
the time,” Koepka says.
“I honestly just want
to take a selfie
sometimes.”
At 28, Brooks Koepka Koepka then went to the Challenge bought the high-tech TrackMan
is now officially notable. He won his Tour, the minor leagues of Europe. swing analysis system that has been
second consecutive U.S. Open in June He ate horsemeat in Kazakhstan and popular with pros for nearly a decade,
and held off Tiger Woods to win the swam with sharks in South Africa. but his mostly collects dust. Koepka
PGA Championship in August. He He also slept four-to-a-bedroom on likes to roll up to public courses,
now has more major wins (three) the road and carried his own bag carrying a generic bag.

than other Tour victories (one). But if until his father and stepmother There his monstrous drives draw
you have based your entire self-image footed the bill for a caddie. little notice. Yet for all his talk of
on being an underdog, what do you Eventually he won enough to make being overlooked, Koepka also
do when you become a favorite? the European tour and then to come cherishes his anonymity. At the
home, but he had loved the grind, Travelers Pro-Am after the U.S. Open,
THE LONG GAME toiling abroad, imagining life in he skipped the practice
No one predicted Koepka’s success— the spotlight. round on the Wednesday
except Koepka. He grew up in Standing six feet and at before the tournament so
West Palm Beach, Florida, hoping 186 pounds, he sees himself he could catch up on
to play pro baseball or hockey. Dan as an athlete first and a golfer sleep. He did head to
Gambill, his best friend, thought second. He works with caddie the range that night—
Koepka could be a good college golfer. Ricky Elliott and a team and not just to hit balls.
Koepka’s father, Bob, hoped his son of three coaches to “It’s about getting the
could play well enough on the pro determine a strategy, handshakes out of the
circuit to occasionally get invited then buys in fully. He way,” he says. “If you KOHJIRO KINNO (U.S. OPEN); ERICK W. RASCO (WITH TROPHY)
to tournaments. does not carry a yardage [don’t] do that, you get
Brooks, though, believed he would book. He asks Elliott distracted in the morning.
dominate the PGA Tour. After college only for a yardage number You’re trying to get focused, and
he tried to get his Tour card through and where to hit the ball. people are like, ‘Hey, how’s it

qualifying school but narrowly failed. This year Koepka finally going? Congratulations.’ ”

20 / SPORTS ILLUSTRATED KIDS