Brooks Koepka poses with the winner's trophy after his victory at the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills on June 18, 2017 in Hartford, Wis.
In a field that saw nine players start the day within four shots of the lead, American Brooks Koepka emerged victorious to win his first major title at the 117th U.S. Open on Sunday at Erin Hills in Wisconsin.
Koepka, 27, shot a 5-under 67 in the final round and finished 16-under to tie the U.S. Open record set by Rory McIlroy in 2011. He shot 67-70-68-67 at Erin Hills and made three birdies in a row on the back nine to clear some space for himself at the top of the leaderboard. Koepka won by four strokes over second-place finishers Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and American Brian Harman.
The last seven majors in men’s golf have now been won by first-time winners.
Koepka started the day in a three-way tie for second place along with Justin Thomas, who had a record-setting low round on Saturday, and Tommy Fleetwood.
Four U.S. Olympians were competing in the tournament, and among them, Rickie Fowler had the highest finish. Still looking for his first major victory, Fowler was in the hunt but finished tied for fifth at 10-under. He shot 65-73-68-72.
Patrick Reed nearly had the low round of the day on Saturday, shooting a 7-under 65 to put him at 8-under, but struggled on Sunday finished tied for 13th (68-75-65-74).
Matt Kuchar, the Olympic bronze medalist last summer in Rio, was just behind him, finishing tied for 16th. Kuchar shot 74-71-70-68. Bubba Watson missed the cut.
Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.