Brooks Koepka has a U.S. Open title, an ability to hit a golf ball as far as anyone on Tour ... and little interest in watching the game when he's away from the course.
Since his dominant victory at Erin Hills, near Milwaukee, in June, Koepka gets recognized more, signs more autographs and poses for more selfies than before his first major victory.
But Koepka still gets lost in the shuffle of golf's millennial movement that features Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler.
That is just fine with Koepka, the low-key former Florida State star who celebrated his U.S. Open triumph not with a bottle of Moet & Chandon but a 12-pack of Michelob Ultra.
"I just think there's a group of 10 guys maybe, you go down the list from Jordan, Hideki, Justin Thomas, Rickie. There's so many guys, so somebody's going to be forgotten," Koepka said Wednesday. "I don't really care. Doesn't matter to me whether I get all the attention.
"At the end of the day, I'd rather win. And that's what I'm here to do."
Here is the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, a course Koepka has never played but should fit his game because of his length.
Koepka, 27, took a more circuitous route to the Tour than most of his contemporaries. Instead of going to qualifying school, Koepka headed to the Challenge Tour, a mini-tour in Europe.
From there he graduated to the European Tour and eventually the PGA, where his only career victory before the U.S. Open at Erin Hills was the 2015 Phoenix Open.
Koepka has saved some of his best golf for the majors.
He finished in a tie for 11th at the Masters and tied for sixth at the British Open at Royal Birkdale. But it was the way he overwhelmed the field at Erin Hills _ his 16-under total tied McIlroy's scoring record in a U.S. Open � that finally put him among golf's top under-30 golfers.
Koepka concedes it's hard group to crack "when every week it seems like a 20-something's winning."
