The Flyover: THE NORTHERN TRUST

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – At the end of a week of punishing wind and rain, fescue and lightning-fast greens, Brooks Koepka fires a final-round 68 to hold off a surging Tommy Fleetwood (63) at the 118th U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Koepka became the first player to successfully defend his U.S. Open title since Curtis Strange in 1989. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1 Koepka’s tee-to-green game is terrific, but don’t overlook his putting. He was in trouble when he hit a wedge into the fescue left of the 11th green, especially when he and his caddie, Ricky Elliott, arrived at the ball and looked down to find it nesting in long grass that was pointing away from the green. The best they could hope for was to hack the ball out and let it roll into the bunker on the other side of the green. That’s exactly what happened, and after splashing out, Koepka rolled in a crucial bogey putt from just inside 13 feet to limit the damage. He then made par putts of just over 6 feet and 8 ½ feet at the 12th and 14th holes, respectively, to maintain momentum. “I’ll tell you what,� said Elliott, who has worked for Koepka for five years, “he’s been one of the best putters on TOUR for two or three years.� 2 Koepka’s outsized will comes from his family. Few tournaments take a toll quite like the U.S. Open, but while Koepka took a few hits, he never stayed down for long. He said he was glad for the tournament’s fabled toughness, for he knew it would take out half the field and highlight his competitive toughness. When he was growing up, he said, his father, Bob, never let him win. And when the son finally surpassed the father, there was Koepka’s little brother, Chase, who teamed with Brooks in last year’s two-man Zurich Classic of New Orleans, to worry about. “Once we started beating (Bob), it was me and Chase going at it,� Koepka said. “I think that’s why he’s so good now, the competitiveness that he’s had to go through with myself and my dad. No one’s going to let it—nobody wanted to lose, let’s put it that way. There were times when I came home pouting, and Chase did, too, getting beat by him. It’s a very competitive family.� So much so that Koepka went stir-crazy when he sat out for three months with a wrist injury to start the season. “I’ve got to be competing at something,� he said. “It doesn’t matter what it is.� Click here for more on Koepka’s comeback from injury. 3 The winner wasn’t worried about third-place Dustin Johnson (70). “He’s going to win another one,� Koepka said. “I mean, we all know that.� Johnson has 18 PGA TOUR victories, including the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, but in winning on Sunday, Koepka now takes the lead in major championships won, two to one. “Going to the gym with him, starting training, you see how hard he works,� Koepka added. “You see how talented he is. He’s physically gifted. In my mind, he’s probably one of the most talented guys ever to play the game. And the attitude, the work ethic, everything that he brings to it, I mean, in my book, he will, when he’s done, probably go down as one of the best of all time.� 4 Fleetwood and Reed will be back. Tommy Fleetwood (solo second, one back) shot a final-round 63 that could easily have been better, were it not for missed birdie putts on his closing holes. He failed to birdie the par-5 16th, and his uphill birdie putt from 8 feet, 7 inches slid by on the low side on 18. Masters champion Patrick Reed (68, solo fourth, three back) roared out of the gate but missed a par putt of just under three feet at the ninth, failed to birdie 16, and bogeyed 18.  Still, both players impressed with their play. “It was a good one,� Fleetwood said. “It was a great one. I mean, yeah, so many positives, so many great things.� Said Reed: “Through the first 11 holes, I didn’t really feel like I missed a golf shot. I was hitting my lines.� 5 Tony Finau has a dedicated team of supporters. Finau made a late double-bogey to drop from a tie for third with Johnson into solo fifth, a difference of over $200,000, but he played well, and he should win something for having the most dedicated team of friends and family. His wife, Alayna, flew to New York on Friday in order to watch on the weekend, but his coach, Boyd Summerhays, really went the extra mile. Summerhays, who grew up competing against peers like Charles Howell and briefly dabbled on the TOUR, was at Shinnecock but flew home Friday to watch his son Preston, 15, become the youngest-ever winner of the Utah State Amateur, a tournament with a 120-year history, at Oakridge Country Club on Saturday. Preston, a rising sophomore, beat University of Utah golfer Kyler Dunkle 3 and 2 to take the age record away from PGA TOUR pro Daniel Summerhays (his uncle, Boyd’s brother) by a few months. Boyd then boarded a plane and flew back to New York, and looked none the worse for wear as he watched Finau play in the last group at Shinnecock on Sunday. “Tony and Daniel kept telling him this was his last year to break the record,� Summerhays said with a smile befitting a proud dad on Father’s Day. FIVE INSIGHTS 1 Koepka averaged 318.3 yards off the tee and was second in driving distance, behind Ryan Fox (318.8, T41). Gary Woodland (T36) was third at 314.7, Jhonattan Vegas (T41) fourth at 313.2, and Dustin Johnson (solo fourth) fifth at 312.5. Finau (solo fifth) was ninth at 310.1. 2 Fleetwood hit the most fairways, with 48 (86 percent), with eight players tied for second with 47 (84 percent). Although the conventional wisdom said players wouldn’t survive by straying from the short grass, Koepka hit just 36 fairways (64 percent) and was tied for 55th in that stat. 3 China’s Haotong Li (69, T16) led the field in greens in regulation (71 percent), Fleetwood and Johnson tied for second (69 percent), and Koepka was fourth (68 percent). Alex Noren led in putting, taking 28.5 strokes per round on the greens. Keopka (29.75) tied for seventh best. 4 The par-4 14th hole, which played between 511 and 536 yards depending on the setup, played toughest of the week with a 4.567 stroke average. Koepka double-bogeyed it on the way to an opening-round 75, but made three pars after that, including a crucial save from 8 ½ feet Sunday.     5 Rickie Fowler (65, T20) bettered his third-round 84 by 19 shots and shared the record for low front nine (31) for the week with Hideki Matsuyama (66, T16) and Reed. Fleetwood shot the lowest back nine (31) and lowest round (63).

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There’s something about the additional (colloquially known as opposite) events that’s as irritating as they are fun to play. Only one time has a golfer successfully defended his title in one of the tandems to the weekly doubleheader, and that was way back in 2005 when Vaughn Taylor went back-to-back at the Barracuda Championship. It’s not guaranteed that last year’s winner or an additional event will qualify for the more prestigious tournament the same week as his title defense, but that he’s back to defend at all likely means that he’s not as attractive due to a dip in form. Case in point, Cody Gribble is back in Jackson, Mississippi, to defend his breakthrough crown at this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship. Note the absence of depth in Future Possibilities below. Gribble is omitted. Speaking of which, he hit a wall post-victory to the extreme that he was the only rookie who won a tournament last season who wasn’t a finalist for the Rookie of the Year award. He also wasn’t one of my 10 in the Power Rankings this week. Needless to say, I’m not endorsing the lefty in PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO no matter the positive vibes he must have this week. Even if he was worthy of pause, his duties as a first-time defending champ would generate enough distraction from the job at hand to dissuade me. Call it an abstention by default. The pick du jour is the rangy Chesson Hadley. Ever since he renewed his outlook over the summer, he’s been nails. It’s so similar to his public admission (on Twitter) about losing focus early in 2014 when he missed several consecutive cuts. Within a matter of weeks (but essentially overnight), he turned his freefall into fortune and emerged with his first TOUR title in Puerto Rico. Chris Kirk has owned this tournament regardless of its location. He captured his first TOUR title at Annandale Golf Club in 2011, but also shared second place in his debut at the Country Club of Jackson last year. What’s scary about him coming in is that he entered the 2016 edition in a groove. That’s not the case this time around. So, while he’ll be inspired by the digs and local hospitality, we need to let him go it alone. If you’re compelled to play the contrarian and sidestep Hadley, who will saturate the landscape, think about attaching to the trend that’s developed at the CC of Jackson. Each of the three champions was a first-time winner on the PGA TOUR. There are three non-winners in my Power Rankings: Andrew Landry (No. 3), Jason Kokrak (No. 5) and Bronson Burgoon (No. 6). While I’m endorsing Kokrak to fill in your blank in the One & Done (because he’s the known value), the other two don’t have the kind of baggage that Kokrak has lugged around sans hardware now 158 starts into his professional career. Landry has made only 20, Burgoon just 28 as a pro. Both are fresh and in form. Fantastic. The incentive to take a flier is that it’s an additional event with the fewest FedExCup points and earnings of any tournament other than the other three additional events later in the season. This is why these concurrent contests are so much fun. Two-man gamers can hedge with the a combo of, say, Hadley and Burgoon or Kevin Streelman (No. 4 in the Power Rankings) and Kokrak. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2017-18. All are pending golfer commitment. Chris Kirk … RSM; Valero; PLAYERS; DEAN & DELUCA William McGirt … Sanderson Farms; Genesis; Heritage; Memorial Kevin Streelman … Shriners; CareerBuilder; Pebble Beach; Wells Fargo; Memorial; Travelers

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