Brooks Koepka could also be considered one of 17 gamers underneath par at The Open Championship, however he is aware of the problem is much from over at Royal Troon. He is without doubt one of the fortunate ones, as many golfers struggled in these situations.
Kopeka signed for a 1-under 70 with 5 birdies and 4 bogeys on Thursday. He trails chief Daniel Brown by 5 after the Englishman shot a 6-under 65.
“I didn’t assume I hit it superb,” Koepka stated.
“I putted fairly nicely at present, which stored me in it. However wasn’t too excited concerning the ball-striking.”
That stated, the LIV Golf captain didn’t present any excuses. The entire subject needed to take care of the cruel climate and difficult situations.
“It’s what it’s. All people has received to play it,” Koepka stated.
“It’s not something we haven’t performed in earlier than. Simply exit and go play… Look, there’s plenty of good gamers, and once they play nicely, you’ll be able to [only] management your ball. Hyperlinks golf, should you’re inventive sufficient, you’ll find alternative ways to get it close to the outlet.”
After beginning 2-over by his first three holes, Koepka fired off 4 straight birdies to shoot up the leaderboard.
“Made a bunch of unhealthy swings early the primary three holes,” he defined.
“Then, discovered one thing there, and once you get scorching, you get scorching. It was good to roll that putt in and see an precise birdie [on the 4th]. Then the 3-iron [on 5], imagine it or not, I mis-hit it slightly bit, and it discovered its means near the outlet. That’s hyperlinks golf. You will get a superb bounce. It ended up all proper.”
He nearly aced the par-3 fifth. Koepka known as that the most effective shot he had hit of the day regardless of mis-hitting it.
The fifth was the second-hardest gap on the golf course in the course of the first spherical, so he picked up greater than a stroke on the sector by making a birdie there. It’s his first time enjoying Royal Troon, as he didn’t tee it up within the 2016 Open.
Koepka acknowledged that the again 9 may get even tougher if the climate worsens, however he doesn’t care concerning the situations.
“It doesn’t matter. You’ve nonetheless received to exit and play, so go play,” Koepka stated.
The 9-time PGA Tour winner tees off Friday at 4:14 a.m. ET with Hideki Matsuyama and Wyndham Clark as he appears to win his sixth profession main.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By. For extra golf protection, comply with us @_PlayingThrough on all main social platforms. You may also comply with her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.
