[ad_1]
BRADENTON, Fla – Brooks Koepka hit one of his worst tee shots of the day that barely cleared the water on the 15th hole. That turned out to be the start of three straight birdies that led to a 6 under 66 lead and a one-stroke lead on Friday at the World Golf Championships – Workday Championship at The Concession.
In some ways, that’s how his recent surge has been.
RELATED: Ranking | Abraham Ancer clashes with a familiar caddy
After a pair of missed cuts, Koepka won the Waste Management Phoenix Open to end an 18-month drought. And now he’s starting to hit his rhythm with big tournaments that creep in quickly.
Koepka hit a 9- to 6-foot chip iron for birdie at No.15, nearly pierced his wedge on the next hole, then birdieed at the 17th par-5 with a splendid bunker pulled through the ridges and on the slope down to the tap-in beach.
He closed with a bogey avoiding a deceptive pin near the water on the closing hole at the concession. Koepka, who finished 11 under 133, had a one-stroke lead over Cameron Smith, Billy Horschel and PGA Champion Collin Morikawa, who quickly caught the field with six birdies in his last 10 holes.
“Usually, I can never find my game before THE PLAYERS. It’s kind of when you start to feel like it’s happening, ”Koepka said. “But the fact that it’s here a little early is good.”
Koepka spent most of his offseason with coach Derek Stone in San Diego, claiming he had not spent more than about 25 days at his home in South Florida since August. It was about making his left knee healthy, and his game is as good as his health.
A dozen players were separated by five strokes ahead of the weekend of this world golf championship, which left Mexico City this year due to the circumstances of COVID-19 and provides a very different test.
Players went from a mile above sea level to a flat Florida, with fairways lined with water hazards and palm bushes and greens with wild slopes and outlines.
Even with a field of 71 players, the difference between the first and the last was 22 shots.
Morikawa tied the tournament’s low score with a 64. The other 64 belonged to US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, who had 13 strokes better than the first round.
“It’s just a golf story. You can have both ends of the stick, ”DeChambeau said. “I didn’t play badly yesterday, I just didn’t get anything, especially on this back nine. I had some bad mistakes and this is what happened. I had some good putts and good shots today, luck has worked for me today.
Defending champion Patrick Reed had three consecutive birdies to start the first nine after making the turn, the last after dominating a 3 wood down the fairway in a bunker, and going from 142 yards to 4 feet.
And then he had two bogeys, hitting his drive in the water at No.5 when his left foot slipped, and hitting the water on par 4 eighth with a shot he feared would be a bit long and to the place came terribly short.
Reed was three strokes behind.
The strangest day belonged to Viktor Hovland, who had 7 cents for his turn and was playing perfectly until a hole in the end ruined him. From a fairway bunker on the ninth par 4, Hovland went straight into the pine straw. His chip crossed the green into a bunker, leaving a difficult shot that he sent back across the green into the woods which led to a lower penalty.
He didn’t bring that one up to the green, threw it 10 feet and pierced it for a quadruple bogey 8.
“It’s mainly the second hit in the bunker which is a bit bitter,” Hovland said. “It costs me four hits right there just that second hit. I hit a lot of good shots today and put a lot of putts, so it’s a shame that a terrible blow comes in then.
Dustin Johnson was only slightly better. The world No.1 player, who opened with a 77, only had one big penalty. He attempted to drive the 12th green onto the 308-yard 12th hole protected by a massive bunker complex. It has gone too far in the bushes. He hit another drive in the bunker and made him climb and descend at least 100 feet to save Bogey.
Still, Johnson had to settle for a 69 and had 13 shots behind.
Jon Rahm, who opened with a 68, went the other way. He raced four consecutive bogeys on the back nine, mainly due to his short game, then a tee shot too far to the left that went into the water on par 5 17th. Just as he started to turn around he went from the bunker to the water on par 4 fifth for a double bogey. He shot 76 and was 11 years old.
Rory McIlroy was stuck in neutral, trading seven birdies with three bogeys and a big mistake when his bunker shot to lie on the seventh par-5 hit the lip and rolled to the right into the pine straw. It took five shots to reach the green, then he missed a 6-foot putt and made a double bogey. McIlroy shot 70 and was six behind.
Source link
