Brooks Koepka has U.S. Open 3-peat within reach at Pebble Beach

Brooks Koepka could do at Pebble Beach this week what no player has done since Willie Anderson a century ago: win three straight U.S. Opens.

The name Willie Anderson is little remembered today, but more than a century ago he pulled off something that no one has matched since.

Anderson, a Scot who emigrated to the United States as a teenager, is the last player to win the U.S. Open three straight years. The last of those victories, in 1905, was also his fourth U.S. Open, a feat equaled only by Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus. Golf was still in its infancy in America back then, and after his tragic death just five years later at the age of 31, Anderson faded away into golf history books.

Now 114 years later, Brooks Koepka has the opportunity to do what not even the likes of Hogan and Nicklaus have done: pull off a U.S. Open three-peat. It’s been just two years since Koepka won his first major at Erin Hills. When he won his second at Shinnecock Hills a year ago, he became the first player since Curtis Strange in 1989 to go back-to-back at the U.S. Open. He’s since added two PGA Championships, most recently at Bethpage Black last month, and has won four of his last eight majors.

It’s no surprise, then, that Koepka arrives at Pebble Beach this week as one of the favorites to lift the U.S. Open trophy again. But the thought of a three-peat is one he admits he hasn’t spent too much time focusing on.

“I haven’t talked to anybody about going three in a row. I’m not thinking about it,” he said at his press conference this week. “I know the odds are stacked up probably even more against me now to go three in a row than to back it up. It’s hard to win the same event three years in a row.”

Koepka is right about one thing: it’s not easy to three-peat. The last player to win the same PGA Tour event three years in a row was Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic from 2009-11. Peter Thomson is the last to win the same major three straight times, winning the Open Championship between 1954-56. Walter Hagen, the winner of four straight PGA Championships in the 1920s, is the only other player to do it since Anderson.

To do it, Koepka is going to have to navigate around a course that doesn’t necessarily suit his game. Pebble Beach is a short course at just 7,040 yards. Koepka’s greatest strength is his distance off the tee, but he estimates he’ll only hit driver on four or five holes all week.

But Koepka has shown in the past two years he’s more than just a long bomber. He overpowered Erin Hills, the longest course in major championship history, finishing at 16-under. Last year, though, Koepka had to scramble around Shinnecock Hills and won the tournament at even-par. At the PGA Championship last month, Koepka saw a seven-shot lead dwindle to just one after four straight bogeys on the back-nine but showed his mental toughness by holding on to win by two.

Koepka is a player who brings his best to golf’s biggest stages. He’s won four majors but just twice in regular PGA Tour events. His ability to peak at the right moments is arguably unlike anyone else on tour right now. He carries a massive chip on his broad shoulders as a result of not getting the recognition he deserves. This week that chip got even bigger when Fox failed to highlight him in one of their U.S. Open promos, a fact he took notice of.

If he is to go for the three-peat this week, the fact that he’ll do it at one of golf’s iconic venues would make it all the more special. “This would be the coolest thing ever, to win three in a row and to win the third one at Pebble,” he said. “It’s such a special place.”

The shadow of Anderson will hang over Pebble Beach this week, but after so many years have passed few will recognize the name. If he’s remembered for anything today it’s for doing what for so long seemed like an untouchable feat. Even Koepka, who’s trying to erase Anderson’s name from the record books, admits the man remains a mystery. “I don’t know too much about him. Obviously, it was a long, long time ago,” Koepka said.

It’s been 109 years since Anderson died, but this week at least the man and his unique feat will very much be front and center at the U.S. Open. Koepka has a unique opportunity this week. Match Anderson and he becomes part of golf lore. Come up short, and Anderson will retain the one thing that ensures his name will live on, even if few remember it.