The Open 2019: Brooks Koepka unhappy with fourth-place finishing – ‘I don’t see many positives’

Brooks Koepka has steeled himself for a "battle" to fix the poor putting he feels cost him a fifth major title in two years.

The world number one tied for fourth place at The Open, failing to make history as the first man to secure top-two finishes in four calendar-year majors.

Koepka refused to draw any positives from his impressive approach play that kept him in the hunt all week at Royal Portrush, choosing instead to berate himself for his poor greens game.

"I played good this year, but this week was obviously disappointing," said Koepka.

"The battle now comes in trying to figure it out.

"It was a great run for three of them, but then this one and there's nothing you can do.

"I don't see much positive out of it.

"If you don't play good, you're not going to win. It's very simple.

"It's disappointing, yes, but I didn't play the way I wanted to and I've got to live with that."

The 29-year-old Floridian retained his US PGA title and finished runner-up at both the Masters and the US Open in a stunning 2019 return.

And, while many would have been reasonably pleased to cap the year with a fourth-place finish at The Open, not so Koepka.

The man who has made his home in Jupiter appears only sated when his major tournament golf performances are out of this world.

"As a whole it's awesome, that's what I'm striving to do," said Koepka.

"This week's disappointing, but the rest of them, it's been great, I'm not going to lie.

"It's been fun, I would have liked to have just made a few more putts here and finished it off with a bunch of second places."

PA