Brroks Koepka wins US Open title

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Koepka earned $2.16 million, the largest single-day earnings in golf.

NOTEWORTHY: Koepka is the seventh straight first-time major victor. It's the first time since 1998-2000 (Lee Janzen, Payne Stewart and Tiger Woods) that Americans have won it three straight times.

Brooks Koepka is closing in on the U.S. Open title.

World number 22 Koepka was not really in the discussion before the start of the tournament at Erin Hills but was the picture of calm as he delivered a performance worthy of a seasoned major victor, with three consecutive birdies on holes 14, 15 and 16.

Koepka's bogey on No. 10 evened their scores, but things unraveled for Harman when he bogeyed Nos. Only four left-handers-Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Mike Weir and Bob Charles-have won major championships. He tied for 13th in last year's Open at Oakmont.

A three-putt bogey from Harman on the 13th left clubhouse leader Matsuyama as Koepka's nearest challenger, but the American promptly got up and down from a bunker on the 14th and holed from 12 feet for another birdie on the next. "But there's way too many holes out here where one bad shot could be a double bogey quickly".

Hideki Matsuyama is second at 12 under. The only drama was if he'd become the first ever to finish at 17-under in a U.S. Open. He also tied for 11th in the Masters, but his game dropped off a bit from there.

That's what we've come to expect of the U.S. Open.

While Koepka won the tournament, Brian Harman held a one-stroke lead entering play Sunday over the eventual victor, Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood. The 29-year-old, who feels his game is very close, will grit his teeth and head to next week's Travelers Championship hoping for better results.

Brooks Koepka walked up to the eighteenth tee on Sunday afternoon with a comfortable lead over his nearest challenger, Brian Harman.

Four-way tie at Erin Hills
For the first time in a major, the top three players in the world all failed to make the cut. "Everything was in good shape". Now, he's still very much in play, at six under after shooting a 73. "So, it should be a fun weekend".

Koepka had always been thought of as a potential major champion and showed exactly why on Sunday with a near flawless performance, which saw him defy gusting winds early in his round and then capitalise on the return of calmer conditions on the back nine.

Neither Rickie Fowler nor Justin Thomas threatened Koepka.

"I played really solid from the moment we got here on Monday all of the way through today".

Champ and Scottie Scheffler are tied at 1 under. If I keep playing well enough, I'll be in the PGA.

The 47-year-old South African has played in just about every imaginable condition over a 23-year PGA Tour career.

Thomas had invigorated the tournament by terrorizing Erin Hills on Saturday for a record 9-under 63. Usually it's the opposite, but here it starts to calm down as the day goes on. -Thomas on the meaning of his record-setting 63. In the group ahead leader Brooks Koepka didn't slip up. "For us it was like two minutes, it wasn't much", Koepka said.

It appeared as though Koepka and Harman were set for a memorable battle when Koepka held a one-stroke lead after the front nine. Harman missed the cut in his previous two U.S. Opens.

After an opening round to remember, Adam Hadwin's U.S. Open finished with a round to forget.

The gusts tapered off from the morning, but they still were making Erin Hills play more hard than it had all week. They bomb it. If they hit it crooked, they'll bomb it again.

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