Browsing: Brooks

Brooks Koepka’s ‘Old Faithful’ clubs offer lesson to us all

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Professional golfers get access to the latest and greatest technology every season, but not every pro chooses to add the new, shiny toys to the bag.

Some, like Brooks Koepka, have found the club that fits their swing and their game, and they are going to hit them until they have to make a change.

For Koepka, the five-time major champion still games a Nike Vaporfly 3-iron, which is no longer in production, and a TaylorMade M2 HL 3-wood, which hit the market around a decade ago.

In an interview with Today’s Golfer at the Dunhill Links Championship last week, Koepka explained why he keeps those two clubs in the bag instead of opting for newer technology.

Koepka’s Nike 3-iron

While some players might opt for a 5-wood for more length, Koepka has stuck with the Nike Vaporfly 3-iron because of his trust in its ball flight and the negligible difference between it and the 5-wood.

While the Vaporfly is no longer in production, Koepka has some spares in his garage. He recently added a new Vaporfly after the face of his old one caved in during the Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

“I’m not a tinkerer,” Koepka told Today’s Golfer.“I don’t play around with different options. I’ve tried throwing a 5-wood in but the ball flight just doesn’t look right to me. I don’t know why. I’m not at the age where I need a little extra help with extra woods, which is lucky, but maybe in probably five or six years, I’ll definitely take all the help I can get. That 3-iron has been my Old Faithful. I know the flight it should be, the original one actually caved in on 18 at Portrush this year. Luckily I wasn’t playing Saturday or Sunday so I didn’t have to go without a club. But it’s been crazy, I’ve been carrying the backup around for a couple of months, sort of knowing it was at the end and it just happened to now make its way to the front of the bag.”

Brooks’ 3-wood

As for Koepka’s TaylorMade M2 HL 3-wood, it has become a bag staple because he has been unable to recreate the feel with other 3-woods. To Koepka, the 3-wood is the most difficult club in the bag to get fit into. Once you do, don’t move on unless it’s necessary.

“I think the 3-wood is the toughest club to even get fitted for,” Koepka said. “I haven’t really ever found anything where it sits down quite right in the fairway or off the tee. The flight that I see with this one, I haven’t found just anything where it’s better. I think this one is going on maybe 10, 11, maybe 12 years now, but it’s crazy, like I said, I don’t tinker, so when I find something that works, I’ll keep going with it.

“You put in a new shaft occasionally. I don’t change those, I think I’ve had every shaft in this bag for a long time and occasionally just the wear from the little wear marks on the bag when the bag gets a little done in, so you have to change shafts but not the heads.”

“When something works, I keep going with it.”

As my colleague Jack Hirsch noted, this is an approach that recent Sanderson Farms winner Steven Fisk also uses.

All of the clubs in Fisk’s bag, except for his Mizuno ST-Z 230 driver and his Vokey SM10 lob wedge, are from the early part of the 2020s, including his Mizuno MP-20 irons and T-22 wedges and his Odyssey White Hot OG Rossie putter.

We’ve seen Rory McIlroy pay almost $1000 for an Uber to bring him his old woods, his TaylorMade Qi10s, for the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. McIlroy played the first three rounds with the new driver and fairway woods, from the Qi35 line, but wanted to go back to the clubs he felt more comfortable with.

Even if it’s not the newest or shiniest club, when you find something that fits your game, stick with it. There’s no need to tinker if you don’t have to.

World Champs Heptathlon — Hall, Brooks In Gold/Bronze U.S. Finish

blankAnna Hall stormed to the title befitting her list leader status. Taliyah Brooks took it down to the wire to tie a multis icon for bronze. (KEVIN MORRIS)

ON PAPER, Anna Hallâ€s search for her first global gold medal might have seemed daunting.

After all, the field included Nafi Thiam and Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who have combined to win every previous one since â€16 and went 1-2 in Paris last summer.

But even at their very best, neither had scored as high as the 7032 total Hall posted in early June at Götzis. Only WR holder JJK has.

So unsurprisingly, Hall nailed that sought-after gold easily after taking silver (â€23) and bronze (â€22) in her previous WCs. Meanwhile, another 24-year-old — Irelandâ€s Kate Oâ€Connor— PRed by 227 points for the silver. The only finishing drama was in a delightful battle for the bronze.

Hereâ€s how it went down.

100H: Taliyah Brooks was fastest at 12.93 and Hall also started well at 13.05, 21 points better than in her Götzis score. KJT (13.44) and Thiam (13.59) were both in their first multis of the year but close to their times from Paris last year. Oâ€Connor also ran 13.44 — the first of 6 PRs she would have here.

HJ: Hall gained the overall lead she would not relinquish after she and Thiam were tops at 6-2¼ (1.89). The best high jumpers were off PR form. Hall had cleared a hept AR 6-4¾ (1.95) at Götzis and Thiam owns the hept WR of 6-7 (2.02) from â€19. KJT (PR 6-6/1.98) was a bar below at 6-1¼ (1.86) — a height that gave audible splendor as a PR for Oâ€Connor. The Irishwoman was now tied for 3rd overall with Johnson-Thompson.

SP: This event may have sealed it for Hall, who PRed twice. She joined the 50-foot club at 50-3¼ (15.32) in round 1 before blasting a final 51-10 (15.80). It also may have marked a changing of the guard as Hall topped Thiam for the first time in the shot in nearly doubling her lead, now at 147 points. Among Americans, only Jane Frederick (53-5¾/16.30), Kym Carter (52-8 ¾/16.07) and JJK (52-6/16.00) have ever put farther in a heptathlon. Thiam threw next-farthest at 48-8¾ (14.85). Oâ€Connor remained in 3rd (56 points behind Thiam) after her only non-PR of the meet, 47-1¾ (14.37).

200: Hall was second-fastest at 23.50 in capping her Day 1 total of 4154, just 7 points off her Götzis pace as her lead grew to 248 points. Oâ€Connor now led the chase pack at 3906 followed closely by KJT (3893) and Sofie Dokter (3890). Brooks was in 5th at 3828 as Thiam dropped to 6th at 3818.

LJ: Brooks launched out to 22-3½ (6.79), breaking a 7-year-old PR with a mark that would have placed 5th in the championship long jump. She also moved into 2nd overall, 111 points behind. Leader Hall was still very much in overall control despite struggling to reach the board with a best of 20-1 (6.12). KJT was sub-par at 21-¾ (6.42) (with a longer foul) and Oâ€Connor went 20-5 (6.22) (an outdoor PR) while Thiam managed just 19-8 (5.99) before dropping out.

JT: PRs landed for 7. including most of the contenders with Oâ€Connor leading the way at 174-2 (53.08). She moved to 2nd and virtually secured the silver behind Hall, who threw a PR 157-11 (48.13). Brooks dropped to 3rd despite a PR 142-3 (43.37) but improved her lead over KJT — who managed only 137-6 (41.91) — from 56 points to 84.

800: Hall bided her time until the final homestretch and won the race in 2:05.08 to seal her gold (6888). The next most watched runners were KJT and Brooks. The latterâ€s 84-point lead was worth about 6 seconds in the 800, but KJTâ€s PR of 2:04.90 was 8.32 seconds faster than Brooksâ€s (2:13.22). Here KJT finished 2nd in 2:07.38 and Brooks countered with her third PR of Day 2 at 2:13.17. That result yielded scores of 6581 for each to tie for the bronze after Oâ€Connor cemented the silver (6714 NR).

Hallâ€s gold was the first by an American since JJK in 1993, and Brooks gave the U.S. two in the medal count for the first time since 1987 (JJK gold, Frederick bronze).

“This gold means so much,†assessed the exuberant Hall. “Jackie [Joyner-Kersee] and I have talked about the Worlds and I am so glad to finally get my gold. I struggled with injuries in 2024 and my body did not let me perform to my full potential in Paris. Moving forward, I will continue to put my head down and try to improve in every event.

“I donâ€t think it has sunk in yet. I always believed I would be able to win but my body was not ready [at the 2024 Olympics]. I really enjoyed the crowd. One thing Jackie told me is to enjoy the moment because you never know. She told me to go out there and have fun. She texted me after most of the events. She told me to stand on my feet and hydrate. She even texted me after the long jump, saying to let it go and focus on the javelin. Itâ€s great to have her in my corner. She has a lot of confidence in me and I am so thankful for that.â€

WOMENâ€S HEPTATHLON RESULTS

(September 19–20)

1. Anna Hall (US) 6888

(13.05, 6-2¼/1.89, 51-10/15.80, 23.50 [4154-1], 20-1/6.12, 157-11/48.13, 2:06.08 [2734]);

2. Kate Oâ€Connor (Ire) 6714 NR

(13.44, 6-1¼/1.86, 47-1¾/14.37, 24.07 [3906-2], 20-5/6.22, 174-1/53.06, 2:09.56 [2808]);

3. Taliyah Brooks (US) 6581 PR (8, x A)

(12.93, 5-9¾/1.77, 45-8/13.92, 24.18 [3828-5], 22-3½/6.79, 142-3/43.37, 2:13.17 [2753]);

3. Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GB) 6581

(13.44, 6-1¼/1.86, 43-10½/13.37, 23.51 [3893-3], 21-¾/6.42, 137-6/41.91, 2:07.38 [2688]);

5. Sandrina Sprengel (Ger) 6434 PR

(13.60, 5-9¾/1.77, 46-10¾/14.29, 24.36 [3736-9], 20-6¼/6.25, 169-6/51.66, 2:15.95 [2698]);

6. Sofie Dokter (Neth) 6432

(13.62, 6-1¼/1.86, 45-10½/13.98, 23.70 [3890-4], 20-2½/6.16, 139-9/42.61, 2:12.63 [2542]);

7. Saga Vanninen (Fin) 6396

(13.44, 5-10¾/1.80, 47-10½/14.59, 24.78 [3777-8], 19-7/5.97, 154-8/47.14, 2:09.33 [2619]);

8. Jade Oâ€Dowda (GB) 6391 PR

(13.34, 5-10¾/1.80, 44-5½/13.55, 25.07 [3696-15], 21-3½/6.49, 151-7/46.20, 2:14.18 [2695]);

9. Emma Oosterwegel (Neth) 6381

(13.28, 5-8½/1.74, 43-9¼/13.34, 24.03 [3714-11], 19-6/5.94, 164-8/50.19, 2:09.48 [2667]);

10. Martha Araujo (Col) 6324

(13.13, 5-8½/1.74, 45-10½/13.98, 24.67 [3718-10], 20-11¼/6.38, 154-2/47.00, 2:19.18 [2606]);

11. Michelle Atherley (US) 6287

(13.22, 5-6/1.68, 45-8/13.92, 23.86 [3704-12], 20-4¼/6.20, 132-3/40.32, 2:07.77 [2583]);

12. María Vicente (Spa) 6207

(13.65, 5-9¾/1.77, 43-9¼/13.34, 23.96 [3704-12], 20-¼/6.10, 146-3/44.58, 2:16.80 [2503]);

13. Sveva Gerevini (Ita) 6167; 14. BeatriÄÄ— JuÅ¡keviÄiÅ«tÄ— (Lit) 6151; 15. Adrianna SuÅ‚ek-Schubert (Pol) 6105; 16. Camryn Newton-Smith (Aus) 5925; 17. Tori West (Aus) 5778; 18. Auriana Lazraq-Khlass (Fra) 5758; 19. Pippi Lotta Enok (Est) 4259;

…DNFs—

Timara Chapman (US) 4790, Nafi Thiam (Bel) 4664, Abigail Pawlett (GB), Vanessa Grimm (Ger) 2590.

TOP 5s BY EVENT

100H: 1. Brooks 1135; 2. Juskeviciute 1120; 3. Hall 1117; 4. Araujo 1105; 5. Atherley 1091; … 9. tie, Johnson-Thompson & Oâ€Connor 1059.

HJ: 1. Hall 2210; 2. Thiam 2127; 3. tie, Johnson-Thompson & Oâ€Connor 2113; 5. Dokter 2087; 6. Brooks 2076.

SP: 1. Hall 3125; 2. Thiam 2978; 3. Oâ€Connor 2932; 4. Dokter 2880; 5. Vanninen 2870; 6. Johnson-Thompson & Brooks 2865.

200: 1. Hall 4154; 2. Oâ€Connor 3906; 3. Johnson-Thompson 3893; 4. Dokter 3890; 5. Brooks 3828.

LJ: 1. Hall 5041; 2. Brooks 4930; 3. Johnson-Thompson 4874; 4. Oâ€Connor 4824; 5. Dokter 4789.

JT: 1. Hall 5865; 2. Oâ€Connor 5743; 3. Brooks 5662; 4. Johnson-Thompson 5578; 5. Sprengel 5555.

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Michael Kim fends off Brooks Koepka and others to win DP World Tour’s French Open

PARIS — Michael Kim holed a 15-foot par putt at the last hole to seal a one-shot victory at the French Open on Sunday for his first worldwide title in seven years, while former No. 1 Brooks Koepka faded to a fourth-place finish.

Kim left his bunker shot short on the par-3 No. 18 but rolled in for par to complete a 6-under 65 and end the week on 16 under.

“I kind of blacked out when that putt went in,†said the 64th-ranked Kim, whose last win came in 2018 — by eight shots — at the John Deere Classic on the PGA Tour.

This victory didn’t come so easy, with Elvis Smylie of Australia and Jeong-weon Ko of France both shooting 65s to be tied for second place.

Koepka, who started the final round in a tie for the lead, could only make eight pars and a bogey on the back nine to fall out of contention. The five-time major winner shot 68 and was alone in fourth place.

Koepka last won in August 2024 on the breakaway LIV Golf circuit at the Greenbrier in West Virginia and was playing a third straight week on the European Tour. He missed the cut in the Irish Open and the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Kim, who has established himself as an unlikely social media star in recent years, became the first American to win the French Open in 53 years, since Barry Jaeckel in 1972. Walter Hagen and Byron Nelson were other U.S. players to win the title.