PEBBLE BEACH – Brooks Koepka launches his bid for an historic US Open treble on Thursday at Pebble Beach (Friday Manila time), where Tiger Woods once separated himself from all rivals and now returns chasing a 16th major. Pebble Beach, where Woods won the first of his three US Opens in 2000 with a breathtaking 12-under par total and a crushing 15-stroke margin, is a vastly different player now at 43 and with spinal fusion surgery behind him. With his win at Shinnecock Hills last year Koepka became the first player since Curtis Strange in 1988-89 to win consecutive US Opens. But he likes the idea of pursuing history at Pebble, where prior editions have produced champions such as Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and, of course, Woods. Johnson has won the US PGA Tour's Pebble Beach National Pro-am twice and finished runner-up twice.

Source: Philippine Star June 13, 2019 06:11 UTC