Brooks Koepka is aiming for his third PGA Championship title at Oak Hill Country Club. However, by his own admission, his game was not up to the level it can be in the opening round.
Koepka headed back to the clubhouse having carded a two-over 72. Considering the difficult setup of the course this week, with long rough, penal bunkers, and tricky green complexes, that will be seen as a reasonable start for the LIV Golf player. However, while he'll not be too far adrift of the upper echelons of the leaderboard going into day two, he was far from happy with his performance.
Following his round, Koepka faced the media and was told he appeared to be behind the 8-ball. He responded: “I hit it, that was the worst I've hit it in a long time. Scrambled really well. Missed a couple putts early but scrambled really well late. Yeah, that was the worst I've hit it in a really long time.”
Despite Koepka’s critical assessment of his performance, he said he was only a couple of shots worse off than the score he could have achieved. He explained: “Probably could have shot even. But like I said, I just didn't have it.”
There have been signs in recent weeks that Koepka is finding his best form after undergoing surgery on his right knee in 2021 following an accident at home. He won the LIV Golf Orlando event, then followed it up with a tie for second at The Masters. Considering his three LIV Golf tournaments since then have yielded finishes of 19th, third and sixth, he went into this week’s tournament with plenty of momentum.
With three days of action remaining, there’s little to suggest that Koepka can’t move up the leaderboard, and in doing so live up to the expectation as one of the most likely candidates to become the first player to win a Major while with LIV Golf.
