FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – The more Brooks Koepka contends in majors, the more he’s asked about the disparity in his résumé.
Two regular PGA Tour titles ... but the potential here to nab his fourth major?
Koepka said it boils down to his focus.
“I think I’m more focused than anybody out there,” Koepka said after a third-round 70 retained his seven-shot lead heading into the final round of the PGA Championship.
“My focus probably goes up, I don’t know, tenfold of what it does in a PGA Tour event, which isn’t good. It’s good that I’m doing it in the majors. But I need to do that in the regular weeks.”
Koepka said that he prefers a stern test, like the field is facing here at Bethpage Black, where after 54 holes just 15 players are under par. He prefers the stress of having to grind out pars.
“Like last week, for example – I’m not the best at the birdie-fest,” he said, referring to the AT&T Byron Nelson, where he shot 20 under par and that was only good enough to place fourth.
“I’m better if it’s going to play very difficult,” he said. “I enjoy that. That’s what I live for.”
Koepka said that’s why some of his competition tends to struggle in the majors.
“Guys make the mistake of trying to figure out, when they get to a major, what’s going on, what’s different. It’s not,” he said. “It’s just focus. It’s grind it out, suck it up, and move on.”