Brooks Koepka is hoping to continue his American Challenge Tour dream as he chases a 2013 treble at this week's D+D Real Czech Challenge Open.
Koepka, who last week won his second event of the season at the Fred Olsen Challenge de España by a record-breaking ten-shot margin, arrives at Golf & Spa Kunetická Hora knowing that victory would complete a treble of wins and make him the sixth player to be automatically promoted to The European Tour.
This is the tenth season that Challenge Tour members have had the opportunity to win promotion to the top tier of European golf as a result of winning three times, the Netherlands’ Taco Remkes being the first in 2008.
Koepka would become the first American to do so, though, while the 23 year old Floridian would also be the earliest, in calendar terms, to progress in such a fashion were he to win at the picturesque Kunetická Hora, 95 kilometres east of the Czech capital Prague.
“The way I have been playing and my confidence being pretty high, I expect and want to do well this week ,” said Koepka, who also won the Montecchia Golf Open presented by POLAROID at the start of last month and is €27,618 clear at the top of the 2013 Challenge Tour Rankings.
“It seems like a great set-up, it’s a good field and I’d love to complete the treble here but we will just have to wait and see.
“I can’t win every week, but I can certainly try.”
Koepka’s success on La Gomera last week was the latest in a recent period of American domination on the Challenge Tour, three of the last four events having been won by either him or former US Amateur Champion Peter Uihlein, a friend of Koepka’s for eight years and also his housemate in West Palm, Florida.
The two young Americans are creating quite a stir with their performances on this side of the Atlantic and Koepka suggests they could be setting a trend for more players crossing the pond for the embryonic stages of their careers.
“With me and Pete it’s a friendship firstly but we’re both driving to make each other better and motivate each other too,” he reflected.
“But I also think playing out here helps you grow massively as a person as well as a golfer. It makes you better-rounded with all the cultures, the languages, the more varied conditions; it’s fun. I enjoy coming to all these different countries.
“I think (his and Uihlein’s success) is definitely going to inspire other Americans to come over and try the same thing and there is going to be another big wave over the next year or two, especially with the changes they have made to the Q-School in the States and the more limited playing opportunities there for younger guys.
“This is perfect for me and will be perfect for lots of others. It gives you a chance to work on your game, play, get ready for Q-School and gives you the opportunity to get hot, get three wins and move up to The European Tour.”
How he reaches the upmost echelons of European golf is of no consequence to Florida State graduate Koepka, it seems, whether he completes a Challenge Tour hat-trick or tops the rankings come the end of the season.
“As long as I get (to The European Tour) I don’t mind how,” he continued. “I’d love to get the third win, maybe here in Czech, and be the first American to gain promotion through three wins, that would be big.
“But even if I don’t get that third win this week or next tournament or the one after that then that’s okay; I’m playing well, I’ve put myself up there in the rankings and in good position to get that card at the end of the year.
“It’s not just all about what’s going on right now, it’s about the future too. I want to look a year, two years down the road. I think too often guys get lost in the now.
“I want to be a top player in five years’ time and while I know that won’t happen overnight I think everything I’m doing right now here in Europe is pointing me in the right direction.”
Koepka is joined in the Czech Republic by another 2013 Challenge Tour winner in François Calmels, who won the Challenge de España at the end of April, former Ryder Cup star Oliver Wilson and multiple European Tour winner Nick Dougherty.
On a local note, Marek Novy, who this year became the first player from Czech Republic to gain full exemption on the Challenge Tour, returns to his native land hoping that home comforts can inspire him to a high finish at Golf & Spa Kunetická Hora.
