Tommy Fleetwood talks up ‘unbelievable’ Brooks Koepka ahead of US Open

Koepka claimed his fifth major in May’s US PGA Championship at Oak Hill.

Tommy Fleetwood, pictured, believes players need to learn from Brooks Koepka to succeed in major championships (Richard Sellers/PA) (PA Archive)

Tommy Fleetwood believes players need to take a leaf from Brooks Koepka’s book to win major championships.

Koepka claimed his fifth major in May’s US PGA Championship at Oak Hill and, after overcoming career-threatening injuries, looked back to being the player who won his previous four in an eight-tournament stretch.

The 33-year-old American believes his target of 10 majors is eminently achievable and insists he relishes the “chaos” of major championships and seeing other players complaining about the difficult of the conditions.

Fleetwood, who finished second behind Koepka in the 2018 US Open after a record-equalling 63 in the final round, told the PA news agency: “Brooks is an unbelievable example.

“People should be studying what he does and how he speaks because he’s the best major champion of our generation so far.

“Obviously he’s one of the best golfers in the world and his stats when he’s playing the majors are phenomenal.

“However, you can’t always control how you’re going to play but you can definitely control the way you think and if you’re going out on that course with the right mindset then you’re giving yourself the best chance.

“I think listening to somebody like that, I think people should draw on that and I think emulating that attitude is something you can really make work for you.”

Is there anything new for 2023?

The golf course itself will be new to the majority of the field, with the venue hosting its first major championship and the first US Open in Los Angeles since 1948. The North Course did stage the 2017 Walker Cup and a prestigious college event in 2013, but Rory McIlroy was among the vast majority of players who saw the course for the first time on Monday.

Key tee times (all BST)

1540 – Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood1613 – Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Max Homa1624 – Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, Jon Rahm2132 – Cameron Smith, Sam Bennett, Matt Fitzpatrick2154 – Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama

Weather forecast

A cloudy start with a low risk of fog/mist and the marine layer hanging around into the early to mid-afternoon hours before the sun fully breaks through to bring a high around 70 degrees. Light winds between five to 10mph.