Brooks Koepka could also be one in every of 17 gamers underneath par at The Open Championship, however he is aware of the problem is way 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 mentioned.
“I putted fairly effectively at this time, which stored me in it. But wasn’t too excited in regards to the ball-striking.”
That mentioned, the LIV Golf captain didn’t present any excuses. The entire area needed to cope with the cruel climate and difficult situations.
“It is what it’s. Everybody has received to play it,” Koepka mentioned.
“It’s not something we haven’t performed in earlier than. Just exit and go play… Look, there’s a number of good gamers, and after they play effectively, you’ll be able to [only] management your ball. Links golf, when you’re inventive sufficient, you will discover alternative ways to get it close to the opening.”
After beginning 2-over by way of his first three holes, Koepka fired off four straight birdies to shoot up the leaderboard.
“Made a bunch of dangerous swings early the primary three holes,” he defined.
“Then, discovered one thing there, and while you get sizzling, you get sizzling. 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 a bit bit, and it discovered its approach near the opening. That’s hyperlinks golf. You can get an excellent bounce. It ended up all proper.”
He virtually aced the par-3 5th. Koepka known as that one of the best 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 is his first time taking part in Royal Troon, as he didn’t tee it up within the 2016 Open.
Koepka acknowledged that the again 9 might get even tougher if the climate worsens, however he doesn’t care in regards to the situations.
“It doesn’t matter. You’ve nonetheless received to exit and play, so go play,” Koepka mentioned.
The 9-time PGA Tour winner tees off Friday at 4:14 a.m. ET with Hideki Matsuyama and Wyndham Clark as he seems to be to win his sixth profession main.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For extra golf protection, comply with us @_PlayingThrough on all main social platforms. You may comply with her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.
