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How Brooks Koepka went from overlooked amateur to the most dominant golfer in the world and possible heir to Tiger Woods’ throne

Brooks Koepka defended his title at the PGA Championship to stake a claim as the most dominant golfer in the world.

Brooks Koepka
  • Koepka has won three of the last five majors and four in less than two years, a run we haven't seen since Tiger Woods at his peak.
  • Koepka's ascent to the top was unusual, and he uses any slight he can find as motivation.
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Tiger Woods is back to winning majors, but it is a once-overlooked amateur who appears to be in a position to become the heir to Tiger's throne as this generation's most dominant golfer.

Brooks Koepka defended his PGA Championship at Bethpage Black and has now won four majors in less than two years, including three of the last five, a run we haven't seen since Tiger at his peak. While Koepka may never be as good as Tiger was, he looks poised to dominate the way Tiger did.

But it wasn't always that way. Koepka was often overlooked as an amateur and early in his pro career while several of his contemporaries received all of the headlines and accolades.

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Below we take a look at Koepka's incredible journey to the top of the golf world.

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Sway's Universe

"Not being the best [motivated me to get better]," Koepka told Sway's Universe . "We always talk about how I've got a little chip on my shoulder. It rubs some people the wrong way. You know, not being recruited. Well OK, when I was in college I was ready to prove to everybody. I couldn't wait to tell them, 'You didn't recruit me. There you go. I'll show you.' And then when you get out, not being the big name, not getting the recognition, not being able to get into tournaments. OK. Watch me. I'm going to find my own way in."

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"I felt like it would be good to get overseas and be able to really fine-tune my game," Koepka said. "Just being able to learn how to travel, learn how to play different shots, learn how to make my game a worldly game, being able to travel to all these places and play different style golf courses."

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"In Europe, it's maybe a friendlier atmosphere," Koepka said . "Guys go to dinner together. In America, everyone has families, so if they are here, they're with their family. The camaraderie over there is pretty cool. Especially when you get a footy match on. Everyone is there in the bar watching.

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"I think coming back to the states would have been the wrong move at that time. I got to really focus on golf and dedicated myself," Koepka said .

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"[The win was viewed as] a one-off," Koepka told ESPN . "The course was different. Wide fairways. The wind didn't blow. People can say whatever. I proved them wrong, I guess."

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"I watched a lot of [the Masters]," Koepka told ESPN . "I realized I really missed the competition. I miss all this stuff. It was hard to wake up in the morning and be like, 'Man, what am I going to get up for? I've got nothing to look forward to.' I don't want to say I was depressed, but it kinda made me appreciate things a hell of a lot more."

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"[The toughest part of being away from the game was] the phone stops ringing. People stop calling," Koepka said. "That was kind of a hard part for me. I don't want to say that I am an emotional guy, but I kinda am. You really find out who your friends are ... I heard from Phil, and obviously Dustin, and maybe Bubba. Three. That was it."

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Golf Channel

"Being in the fairway, I think the fairways are a little bit more overrated," Koepka told the Golf Channel . "You can bomb it, and it doesn't really matter where it goes. I'm going to have wedge when guys are going have a 6-iron, plain and simple. I can still stop [the ball on the green] out of the rough with a 9-iron before people can stop it out of the fairway with a 6-iron."

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"You want to outwork everybody, and you want to beat everybody," Koepka told Golf.com . "You put in the work and the results will come."

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"It's fun," Koepka told Golf.com . "When you get all three of us in there on the road, even at home, we're all pushing each other, trying to make everyone better."

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"You definitely get that 'Oh, really? It's going to be a long day' kind of thing [when paired with certain players]," Koepka told SiriusXM . "I have a different approach. I try to actually slow us down which is part of the problem. Some of these guy are so slow, I will take my sweet time getting to the ball. If I don't have to go to the bathroom, I will just go to the restroom, and just kinda chill in there for five minutes so we get on the clock. Now we're playing at my pace."

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"There's 156 [players] in the field, so you figure at least 80 of them I'm just going to beat," Koepka said before the 2019 PGA Championship. "You figure about half of them won't play well from there, so you're down to about maybe 35. And then from 35, some of them just - pressure is going to get to them. It only leaves you with a few more, and you've just got to beat those guys."

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"You've always gotta find some slight," Koepka told Tom Rinaldi . "You've gotta find something, something to keep pushing you. To beat all the records. To beat my own records. To beat whatever it might be. It is one of those things where you know not everybody will be rooting for you. But at the same time, sometimes haters are your biggest motivators."

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