By Mike May
When the world’s top golfers gather in Brookline, Massachusetts to play in the 2022 U.S. Open, there will only be a few players in the field who are former U.S. Open champions. Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Martin Kaymer, Gary Woodland, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Webb Simpson, and defending champion Jon Rahm will be looking for another U.S. Open Trophy. Past champions, Lucas Glover (2009) and Graeme McDowell (2010) will have to qualify to make the 2022 field.
Woods and Koepka will be the only players in the field who have won multiple U.S. Open titles. Woods is a three-time champ (2000, 2002, and 2008), while Koepka has won the U.S Open Championship Trophy on two occasions (2017 and 2018). 
Koepka also has the distinction of being one of only three men to have won it consecutively. The other two are Americans Curtis Strange (1988-1989) and Willie Anderson (1903-1905). Anderson actually won four U.S. Open titles, with the first title coming in 1901.
Koepka’s attempt to join Anderson’s three-peat fell short when he finished runner-up to Gary Woodland in the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
Koepka also won back-to-back PGA Championships in 2018 and 2019. With his victory in the 2018 PGA, he became just the fifth golfer to win the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship in the same calendar year. The other four people on that exclusive list are, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Woods.
While Woods’ background growing up in southern California is well publicized, Koepka’s background is not so well known.
Keopka is the by-product of a junior golf program at Okeeheelee Golf Course, a county owned public golf course in suburban West Palm Beach, Florida. Keopka spent countless hours as a youngster hitting balls on the driving range, practicing bunker play, stroking putts on the practice putting green, and splitting the fairways with big drives.
Brooks’ memories of his time at Okeeheelee are vivid.
“Growing up at Okeeheelee was a blast! We would get dropped off at 7:30 every morning and get picked up at dark. I learned how to play the game there and it will always hold a special place in my heart.”
He was joined at Okeeheelee by his younger brother, Chase, also a professional golfer, currently competing on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Much of the credit for Brooks’ initial interest in golf must be given to his father, Bob, himself a single handicap golfer, who first put a club in his son’s hands.
“Brooks hit some of my cut-down clubs from the time he was three until I got him his first junior set of clubs at age seven to play in a tournament at Okeeheelee. He liked golf at an early age and from age 7-12, he started showing a passion for the game, especially after I took him to the Masters at age eight. He played a lot of sports growing up like soccer, roller hockey, basketball and, mostly, baseball, until deciding at 12 he wanted to focus strictly on golf. I knew he was always a good player, but never once dreamed of him reaching the heights of winning majors and as one of the top golfers in the world!”
Brooks’ high school golf coach, Greg Sherman, is not surprised to see Brooks succeeding on the PGA Tour.
“I had the privilege and honor of coaching many fine golfers and many fine young men during my ten plus years of coaching the golf team at Cardinal Newman High School (in West Palm Beach). There were several that stood out as outstanding golfers with PGA Tour potential. I can’t really say why Brooks stood out among them, but he did.”
Golf professionals Mary-Lee Cobick and Donna White have strong memories of young Brooks playing at Okeeheelee.
“He had a passion for golf and his work ethic stood out,” recalled White. “He loved to compete and he played lots of golf at Okeeheelee. He and his brother would play, play, play all day. He was always a serious player.”
“Brooks was the young man you saw arrive first in the morning and was the last to leave at night,” remembered Cobick. “Brooks played and worked on his short game all day long. People talk about his power, but his short game and putting are incredible! He was so competitive and always wanted to ‘play a game’ against anyone and everyone that would be around the clubhouse. It always amazes me now to watch him ‘pull off’ all the difficult shots around the green in tournaments in the last final holes. It’s as if I’m watching him all over again from the Okeeheelee Golf shop window years ago.”
Bob Koepka also taught his two sons that winning at anything doesn’t just happen. It requires focus and determination.
“I always made the boys figure out how to win at anything and never let them win whether it was playing cards or sports,” added Bob Koepka. “It was up to them to either physically or mentally rise up to the challenge.”
Brooks Koepka has certainly risen to many golf challenges in the most-recent past. Don’t be surprised to see him win a third U.S. Open title at The Country Club in June. With a third U.S. Open win, he would join a very exclusive club. Only Anderson, Bobby Jones, Hogan, Nicklaus, Hale Irwin and Woods have won three U.S. Opens.
