"I think it helped me grow up a little bit and really figure out that, 'Hey, play golf, get it done and then you can really take this somewhere, " Koepka said. The 16-under score tied Rory McIlroy's U.S. Open record set in 2011 at Congressional.
The turning point came when Koepka bagged three consecutive birdies, starting with the par-five 14th while Harman carded back-to-back bogeys on the hard 12th and 13th holes.
"At the start of the week I was thinking five-under would maybe win this thing, and I was pretty far off", he said.
"I felt confident all week".
"But who knows, it would be great for them to come back here".
Heading into the 12th hole, Harman and Koepka were tied at 13-under.
Hideki Matsuyama and Brian Harman shared second place, four shots behind Koepka.
Spieth used that as motivation and opened with a birdie on No. 1 and said to his caddie, "Fifteen more". "I had an opportunity today and I didn't get it done".
Koepka - like Jason Day, Danny Willett, Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson, Jimmy Walker and Sergio Garcia - is a bridesmaid no more. Harman was a three-time 2nd team All-American at UGA.
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The final out was Vazquez throwing out Derek Fisher attempting to steal second with home run threat George Springer at the plate. The right-hander continued his string of good outings, allowing two runs or less in each of his last four starts.
Without a card on any tour when Koepka got out of Florida State, he filled his passport with stamps from the most unlikely outposts in golf while playing the minor leagues on the European Tour - Kazakhstan and Kenya, Portugal and India and throughout Europe. He came into this tournament No. 151 on the PGA Tour in fairways hit and No. 98 in greens in regulation. As recently as a couple of years ago he didn't seem to thrilled about his career choice. "I'll try to beat him the next time". "To be honest, I'm not a big golf nerd." he added. "Golf is kind of boring, not much action".
Tied for the lead with six holes to play, Koepka made an 8-foot par putt on the 13th hole. After three days of benign conditions, players woke up to a howling Wisconsin wind. There were 133 subpar rounds, nine more than the previous record in that 1990 U.S. Open. Canada's Adam Hadwin was out in the worst of it and shot an eight-over 80 to finish nine-over for the week.
Jordan Spieth played his best round of the tournament Sunday with a three-under 69.
"It made me feel a lot better seeing Brooks shoot 5-under", Thomas said.
Koepka, who looks as if he would be at home in a National Football League huddle, held firm against buffeting winds and crushing pressure to claim a sensational four-shot victory over Harman and Matsuyama.
Australia's hopes were earlier quickly extinguished when Marc Leishman made four consecutive bogeys from the fourth hole and another on the ninth. "There are few good ones coming up over the next few years so I am looking forward to those".
Cameron Champ, the only other amateur to make the cut, shot a 76 to finish at even par.
Spieth described the USGA course set-up as a "fantastic job" and believes the low scores throughout the tournament have contributed to some compelling golf. "I think that's been the consensus from everybody". He was done in by three bogeys and no birdies on the front nine Sunday. He was 10 under, only two shots behind. His even-par 72 left him in a tie for fifth and in a familiar spot - still in search of his first major championship.
He became the seventh straight first-time victor of a major championship, and it was the first time since 1998-2000 that Americans won their national championship three straight years.
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