Brooks Koepka facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Brooks Koepka |
|
|---|---|
2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill
|
|
| Personal information | |
| Born | May 3, 1990 West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st) |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Residence | Jupiter, Florida, U.S. |
| Spouse |
Jena Sims
(m. 2022) |
| Children | 1 |
| Career | |
| College | Florida State University |
| Turned professional | 2012 |
| Current tour(s) | LIV Golf |
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour European Tour Challenge Tour |
| Professional wins | 21 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 9 |
| European Tour | 7 |
| Japan Golf Tour | 2 |
| Challenge Tour | 4 |
| Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 5) |
|
| The Masters Tournament | T2: 2019, 2023 |
| U.S. Open | Won: 2017, 2018 |
| The Open Championship | T4: 2019 |
| PGA Championship | Won: 2018, 2019, 2023 PGA Championship |
| Achievements and awards | |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year |
2014 |
| European Tour Graduate of the Year |
2014 |
| PGA Tour Player of the Year |
2017–18 |
| PGA Player of the Year | 2018, 2019 |
| PGA Tour money list winner |
2018–19 |
| MENA Tour Order of Merit winner |
2022–23 |
Brooks Koepka (KEP-kə; born May 3, 1990) is an American professional golfer. He plays on the LIV Golf league, where he has won many times. Before joining LIV Golf, Koepka also won several tournaments on the PGA Tour.
He is famous for winning 5 major golf championships. These include the 2017 and 2018 US Open. He also won the 2018, 2019, and 2023 PGA Championship.
Contents
Early Life
Brooks Koepka was born in West Palm Beach, Florida. He grew up in Lake Worth. He went to Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach.
Amateur Career
Koepka played college golf at Florida State University. He was a top player there, winning three events. He was also named an All-American three times. In 2012, he played in the U.S. Open as an amateur.
Professional Career
Brooks Koepka became a professional golfer in the summer of 2012. He started playing on the Challenge Tour in Europe.
Playing in Europe
Koepka won his first title in September 2012 at the Challenge de Catalunya. In 2013, he won two more times on the Challenge Tour. These wins were the Montecchia Golf Open and the Fred Olsen Challenge de España. He set a tournament record at the Fred Olsen Challenge.
Just three weeks later, he won his third event of the year. This was the Scottish Hydro Challenge. Because of these three wins, he earned a spot on the European Tour. He played in the 2013 Open Championship right after his third Challenge Tour win.
In 2014, Koepka won the Turkish Airlines Open on the 2014 European Tour. He also finished high in other tournaments. He was named the European Tour's Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year. This award goes to the best new player.
Playing in the PGA Tour
Koepka also played in some events on the 2014 PGA Tour. He finished tied for third at the Frys.com Open. At the U.S. Open, he came in fourth place. This earned him a spot on the PGA Tour for the 2014–15 season. It also gave him his first invitation to the Masters tournament.
On February 1, 2015, Koepka won his first PGA Tour event. This was the Waste Management Phoenix Open. His win moved him up to 19th in the Official World Golf Ranking. This ranking shows the best golfers in the world. In 2015, he decided to focus only on the PGA Tour.
In 2017, Koepka won his first major championship. He claimed the U.S. Open title in Wisconsin. His score tied the record for the lowest U.S. Open score ever.
After the 2017 season, Koepka had wrist surgery. He had to miss the 2018 Masters Tournament to recover. But he came back strong to win the U.S. Open again. He was the first player since 1989 to win the U.S. Open two years in a row.
He won his third major at the 2018 PGA Championship. This made him one of only five players to win both the U.S. Open and PGA titles in the same year. On October 21, 2018, Koepka won the CJ Cup. This win made him the number one golfer in the world.
.jpg)
On May 19, 2019, Koepka won the 2019 PGA Championship. He was the first golfer to win the PGA Championship two years in a row since 2007. This win also helped him become the number one golfer in the world again.
By the end of 2019, Koepka had made the cut in almost all the major championships he played. He also won the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. This win earned him a lot of prize money. He also won the Aon Risk Reward Challenge. This challenge rewards players for smart play on certain holes.
Koepka won the PGA of America Player of the Year award two years in a row. He had some hip and knee pains around 2019 and 2020. In February 2021, he won the Waste Management Phoenix Open again. He had knee surgery in March 2021.
In May 2021, Koepka finished second at the 2021 PGA Championship. In September 2021, he played for the U.S. team in the 2021 Ryder Cup. The U.S. team won this big event. Koepka also won a special golf match called The Match against his rival, Bryson DeChambeau.
Joining LIV Golf
In June 2022, Koepka decided to join the LIV Golf Invitational Series. Because of this, the PGA Tour suspended him. In October 2022, Koepka won his first LIV Golf event. This was the LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah.
In April 2023, Koepka won the LIV Golf Orlando event. The next week, he finished second at the 2023 Masters Tournament.
In May 2023, Koepka won the 2023 PGA Championship. This was a big moment because he was the first LIV Golf player to win a major championship. It was his fifth major win and third PGA Championship. He became one of only 20 golfers with five major victories.
Koepka has won three major championships in New York state. He said, "New York has been a second home to me." He is the first player to win majors at three different places in the same state. In September 2023, Koepka played for the U.S. team in the 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy. In October 2023, he won the LIV Golf Jeddah tournament again.
Personal Life
Brooks Koepka's younger brother, Chase, is also a professional golfer. They played together in a team event on the PGA Tour in 2019. His great uncle, Dick Groat, was a famous baseball player.
Koepka is married to actress Jena Sims. They got married in June 2022. In May 2023, they announced they were going to have their first child. Koepka also appeared in a sports documentary series called Full Swing on Netflix.
Major Championships
Wins (5)
| Year | Championship | Winning score | Margin | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | U.S. Open | −16 (272) | 4 strokes |  Brian Harman,  Hideki Matsuyama |
| 2018 | U.S. Open (2) | +1 (281) | 1 stroke |  Tommy Fleetwood |
| 2018 | PGA Championship | −16 (264) | 2 strokes | Tiger Woods |
| 2019 | PGA Championship (2) | −8 (272) | 2 strokes | Dustin Johnson |
| 2023 | PGA Championship (3) | −9 (271) | 2 strokes | Scottie Scheffler,  Viktor Hovland |
Summary of Major Results
| Tournament | Wins | Top-5 finishes | Top-10 finishes | Events played | Times made the cut |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 7 |
| PGA Championship | 3 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 12 |
| U.S. Open | 2 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 10 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 8 |
| Totals | 5 | 14 | 18 | 42 | 37 |
- Most consecutive times making the cut – 24 (from 2013 PGA to 2020 Masters)
- Longest streak of top-10 finishes – 5 (from 2018 PGA to 2019 Open)
Images for kids
-
Brooks Koepka at the 2023 PGA Championship.
See also
In Spanish: Brooks Koepka para niños
- List of men's major championships winning golfers
- List of World Number One male golfers
