US Open player ratings: Brooks breaks boredom at Erin Hills
Let’s be honest – it wasn’t the most exciting finish to a major. But one man rose from the ashes at Erin Hills to claim victory. Steve Carroll rounds up his US Open player ratings…
9/10
Brooks Koepka
It was proving so easy for the Europhile – after a brilliant back-to-back birdie start – I was in danger of nodding off. (It’s been a long week.)
So with drama across the course in very short supply, Brooks briefly decided to make it interesting.
A big pull on the 10th, his first back-nine bogey of the week, threatened us with a Monday play-off.
No one wanted that so there was a collective sigh of relief when he drained a nerveless par putt on 13 and then birdied three in a row. Quality.
Hideki Matsuyama
They gave all spectators a copy of the players’ badge Arnold Palmer wore in 1960, when he came from seven back to win his only US Open at Cherry Hills.
Hideki did his best to channel that with a proper final round charge worthy of the King – a wonderful 66 that was the best of the day.
What might have been if he hadn’t messed up the 15th? The Japanese has been epic at times this week, recapturing the form that saw him sweep to victory after victory at the turn of the year.
It wasn’t quite enough. But on a day which couldn’t recapture the scoring or the excitement of the first three, Matsuyama offered a brief flicker of interest.
7/10
Brian Harman
It isn’t exciting, but you’ve got to admit Brian Harman’s game is boringly effective.
I’m not sure why that is, because anyone who can stick a 3-wood into these greens and get it to hold – and then sink a 30-footer for birdie – as Harman did early on should raise cheers of Masters proportions.
He put together a late flourish but did anyone really think, at any point, he was going to win? Case closed.
Tommy Fleetwood
I’d put some of my hard earned on Tommy and thought I was sunk from the moment Sarah Stirk stuck a microphone in his gob two hours before teeing off. Nervous? He looked like me over a four footer.
Anyone see that painful chip at the sixth, where it struck the green and then inched agonisingly down the slope before gathering speed and flying off the front?
That summed up Tommy’s day. He hit some lovely irons at times, particularly to start the back 9.
You’ve got to ‘putt’ the ball in the hole, though (As I said it’s been a long week), and Fleetwood couldn’t find enough of those to really contend.
It’s all a bit more fraught than the Abu Dhabi Championship, isn’t it? But Tommy will learn and he’s got the tools to challenge again.
5/10
Justin Thomas
Hero to zero; the day after the night before; after the Lord Mayor’s show; Sorry, I’ve run out of clichés. Justin looked like he’d celebrated his record-setting 63 on Saturday with a Formula 1-style victory spray.
It looked awkward from the very first drive. After three bogeys in the opening five holes, he’d dropped off the TV’s mini leaderboard and was never to return.
A bit part player for the network on the back nine – we only saw him when missing another par putt – that seems incredible for a player who made tournament history barely 24 hours earlier.
Rickie Fowler
I don’t know who’s more disappointed Fowler didn’t win, my wallet or Butch Harmon. Both of us were trying to find the positives as yet another putt slipped by.
Having now replaced Sergio Garcia as TBPNTWAM – if you don’t know what that acronym means you haven’t watched enough golf – final round disappointment in the four major championships is starting to become a thing for Fowler.
He has to learn how to get it done. Maybe it’s time to finally ditch the orange.
What’s in Koepka’s winning bag?
Brooks Koepka Swing Sequence: Bomb it like the PGA champion
Brooks Koepka tears Erin Hills apart for US Open glory
Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
