2021 British Open: Brooks Koepka Laments What Might've Been After Strong Finish on Sunday

Koepka, a four-time major winner, shot a 65 to vault into the top 10, but he still wasn't happy about the missed opportunity to win.

SANDWICH, England — Brooks Koepka leaves Royal St. George’s frustrated, even after a final-round 65 to cap off his British Open.

He fired one of the best rounds of the day on Sunday, but it was just another major championship round for Koepka, who was still lamenting Saturday’s third round when he shot a 2-over-par 72 to effectively end his chances of winning his fifth major title.

“Definitely a missed opportunity,” Koepka said Sunday. “Didn't play good enough Saturday. Doesn't really matter what I finished today. I didn't have a chance to win. That's disappointing.”

Koepka parred the first five holes on Sunday and then went birdie-eagle-par-birdie to make the turn at a 4-under 31.

Hours before leaders Louis Oosthuizen and Collin Morikawa were to tee off, Koepka stamped his name onto the yellow leaderboards at seven under par, but still five shots off the overnight lead at 12 under.

Koepka would lip out a birdie putt at the 10th that would've kept the momentum going. He birdied the 12th but then only parred the gettable par-5 14th and missed another makeable birdie putt on the 18th to finish at 8 under, four shots behind then-leader Oosthuizen.

“It's exciting for me,” Koepka said of major weeks. “I think something just clicks, focus, just understanding where to hit golf shots. It's always—those are fun weeks for me. This week, I mean, I wouldn't call it I competed. It was more of a back-door top 10 maybe, so wasn't the best.”

On Saturday, Koepka realized he was aiming too far right with his irons and then pulling the shot left, which combined with a balky putter cost him a chance to win this week.

“All week except for today I felt like I struggled getting the ball to the hole,” Koepka said. “Today I told myself no matter what, I was going to get it to the hole. Didn't care if I three-putted, but the ball was going to get to the hole.”

Koepka will focus on watching the Olympics, not the golf portion, but track and field and the other events, and then competing in the last World Golf Championship event in the United States, the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

“I'm not playing the Olympics, so I'm not really looking forward to missing that,” he said. “I like coming over here and playing links golf. It's always a bunch of fun, and I've always said that it's the one tournament a year where the fans actually know what a good shot is.” 

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- Jordan Spieth Regrets Early Mental Lapses After Runner-Up Finish
- Oosthuizen Fails to Close Another Major, Slumps Into Tie for Third
- Brooks Koepka Laments What Might've Been After Strong Finish
- Shane Lowry's Two-Year Reign as Open Champ Ends Respectfully
- Bryson DeChambeau Caps Humbling Week With Final-Round 65
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