Koepka: Majors are sometimes easiest to win

[new2g0lf]

I initially scoffed at this statement by Koepka as an attempt to steal some headlines in his rebranding efforts but upon giving it more consideration it might not be as outrageous as it seemed. I'm not a huge Koepka fan but enjoy watching him play.

His thought process was that he's overall better than at least half the field and that most of those left will shoot themselves out of it or crumble under the pressure of playing in a Major which leaves him a few guys to beat. He has the distance off the tee to put pressure on almost all except a few and seems to handle the pressure well. I'd like to see a final pairing with him and Tiger and see how each handles the pressure of playing against each other.

[BrianMcG]

Jack would agree with him.

[Big Cat 3]

Go watch BK's 2nd round on masters.com .... he wins the Masters by 6 strokes if he had cleaned up that round. 3 short misses, a 7 on 2.

[bbr16]

I agree with this mentality. Don’t make it harder than it is by treating a major different from any other tournament. Might not always turn out that way, due to things you can’t control, but it doesn’t hurt to downplay it a little.

[Ferguson]

I think the majors bring out the "worst" in most players. One can only imagine trying to peak the best parts of a golf game while tension and anxiety looms in the background. Where do they channel that emotion?

 

I believe Tiger, Jack and Brooks seem to have mastered the ability to channel it away and keep it there for four days. I suppose when you learn HOW to keep the tension and anxiety from interfering, your performance doesn't have to be the best, it just needs to be better than the guy(s) chasing you.

 

 

[bscinstnct]

**“I don’t see why you can’t get to double digits,"** Koepka said, eyeing a total that has been reached by only three players in the history of the game. “I think one of the big things that I’ve learned over the last few years is you don’t need to win it, you don’t have to try to go win it. Just hang around. If you hang around, good things are going to happen.”

 

https://www.golfchannel.com/news/brooks-koepka-dismisses-half-pga-championship-field-explains-why-majors-are-easiest-win

 

 

[OldTomMorris]

Lots of click-bait headlines based on his comments but he was playing a logical numbers game. What he said makes perfect sense in theory but one still has to go out and play good golf.

 

Brooks rightly points out how the double-bogey virtually killed his Augusta chances but he also had 5 3-putts.

[DatSliceDoe]

Brooks mentality baffles me. He doesn't seem to "try" in regular tour stops, so why even play them? Take the Tiger approach, play four regular stops a year, and four majors. Then again, he's a linebacker, so he can play week in and week out without any issues.

[bscinstnct]

Watch him MC now ; )

[QuigleyDU]

> @Ferguson said:

> I think the majors bring out the "worst" in most players. One can only imagine trying to peak the best parts of a golf game while tension and anxiety looms in the background. Where do they channel that emotion?

>

> I believe Tiger, Jack and Brooks seem to have mastered the ability to channel it away and keep it there for four days. I suppose when you learn HOW to keep the tension and anxiety from interfering, your performance doesn't have to be the best, it just needs to be better than the guy(s) chasing you.

>

>

 

I completely agree with you. I think so many of these guys stress away victories. I think of Tin cup in the first round of the us open of that movie. I also seem to see that Brooks shoots the same score no matter where he plays. it seems he is always always around 7-12 under. Yes, I know he has done better and worse than that. But when you shoot those scores at majors, you win.

[Ronnie Mundt]

He won’t give a sh!t, but I don’t like Brooks Koepka.

[Ronnie Mundt]

He’s saying they are sometimes the easiest to win, but how many non majors has he won that would provide a legitimate context? Is he saying majors are easy to win?

[Anchor44]

> @"Ronnie Mundt" said:

> He won’t give a ****, but I don’t like Brooks Koepka.

 

> @"Ronnie Mundt" said:

> He won’t give a ****, but I don’t like Brooks Koepka.

 

> @"Ronnie Mundt" said:

> He won’t give a ****, but I don’t like Brooks Koepka.

 

 

[Anchor44]

What did he do to you? Must have been terrible.

[DavePelz4]

The mental part of the game is so important. If you think the competition, course or conditions has something over you, you're right, it does and your chance to win is lessened.

 

Koepka really doesn't give a rat's arse which is what makes him dangerous. With 3 majors won, he knows how to do it, has done it and he is just being open and honest. If TW said the same thing he'd be praised for his openness, with BK making the comment, it's perceived completely differently.

[Birdie Mac]

The important thing is he's not trying to convince anybody else about his viewpoint on winning majors; it's more important that he's convinced himself. I like that kind of confidence, even if it seems misplaced or delusional, like a certain left handed golfer who most every year states: "My game is shaping up nicely; I have a new club, and I'm swinging better than I ever have."

[Ferguson]

> @Anchor44 said:

> What did he do to you? Must have been terrible.

 

He's having an "Aileen moment."

 

 

[c7015]

> @bscinstnct said:

> Watch him MC now ; )

 

The nice thing for him is it's like a non-story if he does. He can fly under the radar when he wants, and kick up dust about being underrated when he wants attention or to motivate himself.

[Ronnie Mundt]

> @Anchor44 said:

> What did he do to you? Must have been terrible.

Isn’t this a message board about golf? So we can’t share our opinions on certain players? Cool thanks. When were you deputized?

[3whacker]

His attitude is nothing new..remember when Andy North used to do his predictions on who would win a major, he was doing the same thing, he was eliminating most of the field based on previous stats..If you take the time to crunch the stats you would come up with the same number that Brooks comes up with

[puttingmatt]

All I can say is, where is his green jacket, it was so easy to lose his last major, for Koepka, actions should speak louder than words.

[legitimategolf]

Deep Thoughts

 

by Brooks Koepka

[dropkicked]

I like Bk. But I wouldn't be surprised with a MC, this week. I see that trend on the downward slope and don't see him winning another major anytime soon.

 

 

[DavePelz4]

> @dropkicked said:

> I like Bk. But I wouldn't be surprised with a MC, this week. I see that trend on the downward slope and don't see him winning another major anytime soon.

>

>

 

Will take the under on the MC and the over on winning another major in the not too distant future.

[QuigleyDU]

> @DavePelz4 said:

> > @dropkicked said:

> > I like Bk. But I wouldn't be surprised with a MC, this week. I see that trend on the downward slope and don't see him winning another major anytime soon.

> >

> >

>

> Will take the under on the MC and the over on winning another major in the not too distant future.

 

I want some of that action as well. I would be willing to bet at this point that Brooks wins more majors than Tiger, and DJ combined. Going forward that is. not career total.

[Ferguson]

> @QuigleyDU said:

> > @DavePelz4 said:

> > > @dropkicked said:

> > > I like Bk. But I wouldn't be surprised with a MC, this week. I see that trend on the downward slope and don't see him winning another major anytime soon.

> > >

> > >

> >

> > Will take the under on the MC and the over on winning another major in the not too distant future.

>

> I want some of that action as well. I would be willing to bet at this point that Brooks wins more majors than Tiger, and DJ combined. Going forward that is. not career total.

 

No one on tour now will get near Tiger or Jack.

[QuigleyDU]

> @Ferguson said:

> > @QuigleyDU said:

> > > @DavePelz4 said:

> > > > @dropkicked said:

> > > > I like Bk. But I wouldn't be surprised with a MC, this week. I see that trend on the downward slope and don't see him winning another major anytime soon.

> > > >

> > > >

> > >

> > > Will take the under on the MC and the over on winning another major in the not too distant future.

> >

> > I want some of that action as well. I would be willing to bet at this point that Brooks wins more majors than Tiger, and DJ combined. **Going forward that is. not career total. **

>

> No one on tour now will get near Tiger or Jack.

 

I am saying more win from now moving forward. I even said that.

[WidespreadPanic]

I think it makes perfect sense. But, this is also assuming he’s not going to be one of the guys that shoots himself out of it.

[double_d]

Jack Nicklaus said the exact same thing years ago.

He said a certain percentage of the field beat themselves before they ever hit a ball by believing they couldn't win.

[Brock Savage]

 

There's no doubt that a major is harder to win than a regular event for MOST players, because of the pressure and hype. If they are contending, they are suddenly in an unfamiliar world, with huge galleries, reporters and photogs badgering them for their time, etc. And they know that if they win, they don't just get more money than usual, but their life will change forever. No matter what they do for the rest of their careers, they in the books as an elite player.

 

Lots of players crumble under that pressure. Ironically, that makes majors easier to win for the truly great players, the Jacks and the Tigers. They're used to the galleries, they're used to the reporters and cameras, they're already elite players, and they actually thrive on pressure. The fact that other players don't, automatically eliminates half the field.

 

So you would expect a truly great player's winning percentage in majors to actually be better than in regular events, assuming he restricts his schedule to strong events, as Tiger mostly does, and as Jack mostly did. It's just a matter of whether he has his A game that week. If he does, he'll win, unless some lesser golfer, a Michael Campbell or Rich Beem, has the week of his life. If he doesn't, he'll lose, unless the rest of the best golfers in the field also have an off week.

 

And the numbers bear that out. During Tiger's prime (from turning pro through 2009), he played in 239 PGA events. 50 of those were majors, and 30 were WGCs, leaving 159 regular PGA events.

 

Tiger won 14 of the 50 majors, or 28%. He "only" won 41 of the regular events, or 25.8%.

 

Jack had similar numbers during his prime of 1962-78. He won 19.1% of his regular events, and 22.1% of his majors.

 

So for the two best golfers of all time, and probably the only two players who have won enough to make the percentages statistically valid, it really is easier to win a major than a regular PGA tour event.