Going into the weekend, Brooks Koepka’s robotic takedown of Bethpage Black was on full display and another trophy seemed a foregone conclusion. There was speculation he could break Jason Day’s -20 under posted at the 2016 PGA Championship. Even though he merely held serve on Saturday, by the time he teed off on Sunday, he led by seven shots and everyone else was competing for 2nd place.
For most of his Sunday round, things appeared to be going according to script. Koepka moved through the front nine trouble-free with no outward sign that he was feeling any stress. No rapid eye blinking or involuntary winking; no bulging eyes or flaring of the nostrils; no clearing of the throat. There was nothing from Koepka. Just marched cool, calm and collected, from hole to hole, until he walked onto the 11th tee box, when his tournament began to turn from a coronation to a possible train wreck.
He bogeyed #11, #12, and was facing another bogey on #13, when we saw the first sign of serious trouble afoot. If you watch the video carefully, you can see Koepka aggressively rubbing his left eye while surveying his putt (a telling physical manifestation of the pressure he was now under; his left finger simultaneously digging and pushing his eyeball uncomfortably into its socket). He would bogey that hole, as well as #14.
After 4 straight bogeys, and with Dustin Johnson charging up from behind him, it looked as if Koepka was in serious jeopardy. Thankfully for Koepka, Dustin Johnson couldn’t maintain his momentum and was the first to crack, splaying shots all over #16 and #17. In the end, and much to Koepka’s credit, he made a beautiful chip shot, under enormous pressure, to ten feet of the pin on 18 and would make the par putt to close things out.
While the 2019 PGA Championship is now in the brooks, there was another story line worth mentioning.
Ever heard of Jazz Janewattananond? Most of the golf world had not. Well, it turns out a “Jazz Janewattananond” is a 23 year old, 5’9” 150 lb force of nature from Thailand, who attacked Bethpage with abandon. Where did he come from, and how is it that he was in 2nd place after three rounds of a golf major? It is an interesting story, to say the least.
Janewattananond turned pro in 2010 and for the next 6 years struggled to find his footing playing on both the Asian and European tours. Perhaps feeling frustrated with how he was playing and lack of results, he decided to walk away from golf after the 2016 season and, get this - join the monkhood!
Janewattananond credits the two weeks he spent as a disciple of Phra Maha Vudhijaya Vajiramedhi, as restoring his mindset and approach to golf. And shortly after this experience and his re-emergence Janewattananond began to win. ““I learned from him that happiness is the greatest thing in life,” Janewattanananond told Thai media in 2017. “Before that, golf was everything to me, and it gave me so much pressure during competition. I have been competing with less pressure ever since and starting getting better results.” A lesson all of us can take to heart.
Given his recent “conversion” and embrace of Buddhism, we plan to send Janewattananond a “Birddha” hat in celebration of his recent success. We may send Dustin Johnson one, as well.
Lastly, we would be remiss if we didn’t tip our cap to Matt Wallace, a member of the European Tour, who has managed to make a outrageous amount of money in 2019 in just two tournaments - his performance at Bayhill and thIs tournament. As a result, his world golf ranking has sky rocketed.