Golf Tips Handbook: Your Free Guide Awaits

Unlock our Exclusive Golf Tips Handbook- a curated collection of the smartest, most practical lessons we’ve published this year.

Download now

Brooks Koepka finished T37 at the 2017 FedEx St. Jude Classic. One week later, he won the U.S. Open by four strokes. What changed? Pete Cowen gave him hell.

The world’s 22nd-ranked player had just sleepwalked through four rounds in Memphis. His scores looked acceptable—68-66-72-73, one-under total—but the demeanor didn’t. Cowen watched from the ropes and saw something worse than missed cuts. He saw a player who’d given up before the tournament ended.

“He was a disgrace, walking around as though his dog had died. Poor me, poor me, poor me.” Cowen recalled on Rick Shiels’ podcast. “You embarrass me. I was embarrassed. Totally embarrassed. Your attitude was poor. With an attitude like that, you win nothing,” Cowen told Koepka.

Cowen sat Koepka down and delivered this message without a cushion before Erin Hills began. The lecture took place in the chipping area at Erin Hills, with a finger raised like a schoolteacher. Koepka sat. Caddie Ricky Elliott sat beside him. Graeme McDowell and caddie Ken Conboy drove past mid-reprimand. “Oh my goodness,” one muttered. “He’s getting a bollocking from Pete.”

The St. Jude performance had been the trigger. The iron play held. The ball-striking remained solid. But the putting collapsed in the final two rounds, and the attitude crumbled with it. Koepka lost 4.6 strokes on the greens on Friday alone. The frustration leaked into his body language, his pace, his presence. Cowen had seen enough.

Finally, Koepka won the U.S. Open by four strokes. His 16-under total tied the lowest score relative to par in championship history. It was his first major. He’d go on to win four more, including back-to-back U.S. Opens in 2018. After Erin Hills, Koepka sent Cowen one text. It’s the only message the coach kept.

“Thanks for the bollocking,” it read. “I couldn’t have won that tournament without it.”

The transformation took seven days. One tournament to expose the problem. One conversation to confront it. One major championship to validate the method.

The challenge was whether Koepka would exhibit the mindset of a champion or remain the petulant child from the previous week. The line held. Cowen didn’t soften it.

Top Stories

Tiger Woods Unwilling to Let Charlie Woods Down as He Makes Tough PNC Championship Decision

Golf Veteran, 90, Pays Emotional Tribute to Fuzzy Zoeller Days After His Passing

Sir Nick Faldo Claims Rory McIlroy’s Major-Winning Days Are Over

PGA Tour Takes Strong Call After Laurie Canter Rejected Card for LIV Golf Spot – Report

Justin Thomas Still Disturbed by Rory McIlroy’s Ryder Cup Ordeal, Blames PGA of America

Why Pete Cowen’s bollocking worked on Brooks Koepka

The reprimand only landed because of who delivered it. Cowen’s resume carried 13 major championships across his students and over 300 worldwide wins. Henrik Stenson won the 2016 Open Championship under his guidance. Darren Clarke claimed the 2011 Open after a similar confrontation. Graeme McDowell took the 2010 U.S. Open. Lee Westwood and Clarke both left Cowen at different points in their careers. Both returned.

“People are frightened of losing their jobs,” Cowen explained. “I’ve never been frightened of losing the job.”

That indifference created space for honesty. Cowen didn’t need Koepka’s approval. He didn’t need the paycheck badly enough to coddle. The credibility spoke before the words did.

Koepka had shown flashes in majors before Erin Hills—T4 at the 2014 U.S. Open, fourth at the 2016 PGA Championship. The talent existed. The consistency didn’t. The attitude threatened to derail what the game should’ve already delivered.

Cowen mentioned Stenson and Clarke needed similar wake-up calls before their major wins. The pattern held. Elite players surrounded by yes-men rarely hear the truth until it’s too late. Cowen built his career refusing to be one of those voices.

“I don’t take people back now,” he said, reflecting on his evolution. He’s past the phase of building a business. He can afford to walk away. That freedom fosters honesty, turning good players into champions.

The St. Jude-to-Erin Hills timeline proved the method. Koepka didn’t need technical fixes. His swing held. What he needed was someone willing to embarrass him, risk the relationship, and trust the confrontation would stick.

It did. The text confirmed it. The trophy proved it.