Brooks Koepka poses during the Player of the Year ceremony at The Bear’s Club on October 9, 2018 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR)

The casual golf fan may not have known much about Brooks Koepka when he first hoisted the U.S. Open Championship trophy in 2017.

He had only won PGA TOUR win to his name at the time—the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open—and was part of America’s winning Ryder Cup team. Beyond that, he was a relative unknown before becoming a major winner.

All that’s changed now. Since that breakthrough victory, Koepka has added two more majors to his trophy case, first in a repeat performance in June at the U.S. Open, and again in August at the PGA Championship. The titles helped him earn the 2018 PGA TOUR Player of the Year award, as voted on by the TOUR’s membership for the 2017-18 season.

“On behalf of the PGA TOUR, our congratulations to Brooks Koepka on being voted PGA TOUR Player of the Year by his peers,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “Brooks has brought a new brand of athleticism to the PGA TOUR, and we saw the results this year with his historic season at the major championships and a top-10 finish in the FedExCup. These feats were accomplished despite missing significant time due to injury, a testament to his work ethic and perseverance throughout the season.”

Koepka, a 28-year-old native of West Palm Beach, Florida, finished a career-best ninth in the FedExCup Standings. In addition to his two victories, he earned more additional top-10 finishes, including runners-up at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions and Charles Schwab Challenge.

He did so despite missing 10 weeks because of an injured left wrist. He made his return in late April at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, and collected his first top-10 post-injury at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club, a second-place finish to Justin Rose.

With his victory at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, Koepka became the first player since Curtis Strange (1988-89) to win back-to-back U.S. Open titles. Five starts later, Koepka won his third major title in his 100th PGA TOUR start, capturing the PGA Championship by two strokes over Tiger Woods with a tournament record 16-under 264. At age 28, Koepka became the fifth American since 1945 with three or more major wins before the age of 29 and the fifth player to win the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in the same season.

Koepka posted season-low rounds of 63 on four occasions in 17 PGA TOUR starts, including the lowest final round ever at THE PLAYERS Championship. He closed the season with 13 of 16 rounds in the 60s over the four FedExCup Playoffs events.

Koepka, who will receive the Jack Nicklaus Trophy for winning PGA TOUR Player of the Year, was selected for the honor over Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose and Justin Thomas.

PGA TOUR members who played in at least 15 FedExCup events during the 2017-18 season were eligible to vote. The balloting process ended on October 1.

About Richard Fellner

A four-time winner of the Australian Golf Media Awards, including Best Photojournalism, Best Opinion, Best Column and Best Photographic Presentation, Inside Golf Group Editor Richard Fellner is the quintessential Golf Tragic, having played the game for over 50 years (but has never gotten any better!) He has played and reviewed courses all over the world, and has interviewed many of the great players of the game (including Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Greg Norman). Richard is a member of both the Australian Golf Media Association and the Golf Society of Australia, and has been a featured guest on many Australian "sports talk" radio shows and networks, including ABC Grandstand, SEN 1116, Melbourne Talk Radio 1377, 2GB and others. Follow Richard Fellner on Quora

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