Are majors easy for Koepka? "If he keeps doing this, we are going to have to believe him," says Harrington
Brooks Koepka hits his tee shot on the sixth hole during the third round of the 102nd PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park on August 8, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America)
Pádraig Harrington can’t call a winner in the PGA Championship but he knows one thing - if Brooks Koepka comes up trumps again, his critics will have to shut up about his non-major record if he goes into hibernation again.
Koepka goes into the final round at TPC Harding Park just two shots behind Dustin Johnson in his bid for a fifth major win in his last 11 starts and Harrington knows that the Floridian is not joking when he says he finds majors easier to win than regular events.
“If he keeps doing this with majors, we are going to have to believe him,” Harrington told Golf Channel’s Morning Drive. “We will go another six months or to a period when there are no majors and he won’t contend and me and the media will be saying, ’Look, he can’t win these small, regular events, his game is gone, he is not interested.’ Whatever excuse we come up with. But if he delivers every time he turns up at these majors, he is shutting us up.”
He added: “What impresses me is where he was 10 days ago, or where we thought he was 10 days ago. It’s remarkable how much the world would have written Brooks off 10 days ago. His form hadn’t been good. But I did see he’s changed driver this week, which has been important to him.
“If you watched the FedEx St Jude Invitational last week, he blew it right on 16 and 17 when there was out of bounds left. More so than the pull into the water on 18, it was the fact that throughout his career, he has been brilliant at aiming down the left-hand-side and hitting a fade. On 16 and 17 you had OB left on both those holes — it’s 20-30 yards left — and he blew it right on both tee shots.
“Changing driver this week, he just seems to be more comfortable off the tee that that left isn’t there. Maybe there isn’t that big danger off the tee. I just think, he is a different man now.”
The top 20 on the leaderboard are covered by just five shots with Johnson leading by a shot from youngsters Scottie Scheffler and Cameron Champ and by two from Koepka, Paul Casey and another young gun in Collin Morikawa.
The rest of the top 20 comprises experienced players such as Justin Rose, Jason Day and Tommy Fleetwood and younger, more volatile players such as Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau, Daniel Berger, Joel Dahmen, Si Woo Kim, Xander Schauffele, Li Haotong, Hideki Matsuyama, Bernd Wiesberger and and Mike Lorenzo-Vera.
“I am looking at this leaderboard and I am trying to put myself in their situation,” Harrington said. “I feel when it came to winning majors, that you’ve got to believe it’s your time. You earn your way into major championships - it’s sort of what Brooks Koepka says. He feels when turns up at the majors there are only 10 people in contention. He feels very comfortable.
“The best place to be in a major is when it feels like a marathon and you are jockeying for position all the way through the first 63 holes. Some tournaments, a normal PGA Tour event, can feel like a sprint. If you are not five under par after nine holes, you feel like you are going to miss the cut.
“Whereas in a major you feel you have more time and the better players see that. So Brooks, that’s what’s he’s alluding to when he says he feels comfortable at these majors.
“The leaderboard I am looking at - the younger guys, yes they could win. But it’s more likely t this week will be a learning week for them. These guys are going to win majors going forward but for most of them it’s a learning experience this week and I would look for those guys who are comfortable being where they are.
“They will have to take pins on in the last nine holes. The likelihood is that with nine holes to go, they will have into get that situation and say right, I am going to go for it here. Somebody is going to shoot three or four-under for the last six holes and take this tournament.”
As for the lack of fans, Harrington believes it suits the lesser players and gives the big guns one less thing to worry about.
“The absence of fans makes it easier for the rookies. There is no doubt about it. The experienced guys, I don’t think they are gaining or losing from it. Maybe there is little less drama for them; a little less stress. But for the rookies, I don’t think the same level or pressure is there when there are not the big crowds roaring and cheering.
Final round pin potions for 2020 US PGA Championship at TPC Harding Parl
“The big crowds would be following the likes of Brooks and DJ - we had that with Tiger in our day. If you were anywhere near Tiger’s group on the golf course, there was an awful lot of things going on, a lot of movement you had to deal with. You were far better off playing with Tiger and being in the eye of the storm than being outside it. The rookies, or the non-major winners, don’t have to deal with that. It’s like they are playing a normal event, to some extent. So it’s probably and advantage for them. For the senior players, they are just getting on with whatever hits them in any particular week.”
Asked why the PGA Championship set-up never seems to agitate the field, Harrington laughed and said: “They are getting agitated with the bunkers!
“I think Kerry Haigh and TPC Harding Park have done a tremendous job. They have nailed it. They are allowing birdies for good shots and they are good shots, not stupid shots people are taking on. And they are punishing with bogeys bad shots that are out of position.
“We’d love if this was the tournament course every time and the reason they can do that is the weather is predictable. Usually, whenever we see a golf course get lost by a tournament, it’s more because they want certain conditions and the weather turned and gave them something else. Maybe the greens got too firm, too fast.
“With Harding Park, they are pretty much guaranteed the same weather every day and they have delivered perfectly on this golf course. One interesting thing I find, there is no hole with an out of bounds or a water hazard; the sort of hole that would keep you awake at night. I know 12 and 13 are difficult, but they are difficult in the sense that you will make a bogey.
“Whereas 18, you will see a lot more drives down the right this evening because there is out of bounds and a water hazard and you have to re-tee if you hit it left. So it really does suit those bigger hitters. They are not standing there and thinking, if I wing this, I am going to reload. It isn’t a straight hitters golf course. The fairways are narrow but outside the fairways is not a huge problem in the sense that if you hit it 40 yards right of the fairway, it’s the same as hitting it five yards right of a fairway.”
As for picking a winner, he simply can’t call it.
He said: “I am looking forward to it. It really does looks as though it will be an exciting finish and it will be a brave man who will go out on a limb and actually put his money down and call it.”
