'Worst I've Hit It In A Really Long Time' - Koepka Bemoans PGA Championship Start
The LIV Golf player finished on two over after the first round, and he admitted there's plenty of room for improvement
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.
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Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories.
He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game.
Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course.
Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.
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