Brooks Koepka is the man to beat at the Open says Colin Montgomerie

Colin Montgomerie, posing with the Senior Open Championship trophy at Royal Lytham, which will host the event next month, has likened Brooks Koepka to Tiger Woods at his major-winning best. Picture: Getty.

Colin Montgomerie watched Tiger Woods look a class apart in majors in his prime and now the Scot reckons Brooks Koepka is getting close to being in the same league despite being pipped in his bid for a record-equalling third straight US Open win on Sunday.

Attempting to secure a place in the history books alongside North Berwick man Willie Anderson, Koepka finished runner-up to compatriot Gary Woodland in the season’s third major, having gone into the event at Pebble Beach after also claiming a share of second spot in The Masters at Augusta National before making a successful defence of the US PGA Championship at Bethpage Black.

The 29-year-old has now finished first-second-first-second in his last four majors, making him the man to beat when the 148th Open Championship concludes the 2019 men’s major season on its return to Royal Portrush next month for the first time since 1951.

“It is very much like Tiger in 2000,” opined Montgomerie of Woods winning the US Open, The Open and the US PGA Championship that year after also being in the mix at the Masters. “The three majors this year he [Koepka] has been second, first and second. What about that? Christ, he could have won them all. This is something else. He is coming to Portrush with a target on his back as he is the guy to beat, no doubt about it.

“What impresses me most about him is his manner. He doesn’t seem to be fazed in the slightest. It seems as though he is playing in a monthly medal while everyone else is playing in a major. He just doesn’t seem to bother. God, he doesn’t mind holing a putt either. He is just so confident. He has that belief. He believes he is going to do it before he even starts. And he even says that in the media centre. You can say that, but I think he actually believes it, which is very impressive.”

Even though he was the double defending champion and also the world No 1, Koepka was effectively snubbed in a television advert promoting last week’s event on the California coast, having suffered similar treatment over the past couple of years since making his major breakthrough.

“I think the fact he feels he is being snubbed at times is actually helping him,” added Montgomerie. “I think it spurs him on. Jordan Spieth got the press. Even Bubba Watson got the press. This guy doesn’t and he’s won almost as many majors as them put together.

Montgomerie watched the conclusion of the 119th US Open in the family home in Troon, having played golf earlier in the day with his 89-year-old dad, James, on Father’s Day. “A great weekend and it proves what a great game golf is,” he said of a family get-together that also included his brother, Douglas.

While James gave up on the final round at the turn due to the eight-hour time difference, the eight-time European No 1 was glued to the action until the finish. “I thought Woodland was going to make a mistake, but he never did, not at all,” said Montgomerie, who finished third behind Tom Kite on his US Open debut at Pebble Beach in 1992.

“He was very solid. He was – and I hate to use the word – very Koepka-esque. He looks the same, he is the same build, he is the same sort of physical specimen, he hits the ball similar. It seems to be the way golf is going, though I think the course came out on top last week. It was set up properly as you got penalised for a bad shot.”

Montgomerie was speaking during a visit to Royal Lytham, where he is heading next month for the Senior Open Championship as it pays a first visit to the Lancashire venue since American Tom Wargo lifted the over-50s Claret Jug in 1994.

“If there was one win left in me, I’d love it to be that as I’ve never won an R&A event,” said the Scot, a three-time Senior major winner. “I’ve been runner-up in the Open. I’ve been runner-up in the British Amateur. I’ve been runner-up in the British Youths. So I’d love to win the Senior Open as that is the biggest event for me now and Lytham, like St Andrews last year and Sunningdale next year, is a great venue for it.”