Koepka on his way to a record in the PGA Championship

Three times major in two years, Brooks Koepka may still feel like he has something to prove.

He delivered again on the biggest stage of golf.

And this time, Tiger Woods was in the game.

Koepka beat the tough Bethpage Black for a record start in defense of his title in the PGA Championship. With a 40-foot birdie to start his round and a birdie putt just inside 35-foot at the end, he shot a 63 under 63 to break the course record and become the first player to shoot 63 times in the same major.

"It was one of the best rounds where I probably played as a professional," Koepka said. "This golf course is brutal."

He had 10 shots better than the first run average score, but only one better than Danny Lee on a day when only 16 players broke the pair, the least for the first round of the PGA Championship since 2008 in Oakland Hills .

It was only a trick, but enough for the Masters won by Woods last month to feel more nostalgic than a sign of the future.

"I felt like I won this year, I play well," Koepka said. "It was great that Tiger won Augusta, but I mean, we're at a new week. (…) Obviously, everyone will support him and it will be noisy, especially if he succeeds in a putt You just have to keep fighting. "

Thousands of spectators who walked the beaten track until the end of Bethpage Black Thursday were attracted by Woods, a new Masters champion, who again announced his 10th start as a PGA Champion in 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007.

The introduction took enough time to remind everyone what Woods did in the game.

Koepka then showed what he had done recently: two consecutive titles of the American Open, a PGA Championship and an ideal start to join Woods as the only winner of the PGA consecutive championship in stroke play.

"I was not surprised," Lee said. "I mean, did you see him play at the US Open and the PGA Championships in the last three years?"

Woods looked rusty early, inspired in the middle and sloppy at the end of his first competition since his emotionally exhausting Masters win.

He started with a pair of double bogeys in the back of the nine and ruined a torrid start in ninth place – two birdies and a 30-foot eagle in a four-hole course – with a pair of three-shot bogeys. That gave him a 72, leaving him nine shots and ending 12 consecutive rounds at par or better in the major tournaments of the American Open last summer.

"It was not as clean as I would have liked, that's for sure," Woods said.

Tommy Fleetwood had a 67, while the group at 68 included Pat Perez, who played a practice round with Koepka on Tuesday. Jordan Spieth defeated a double boguey on the 10th hole for a 69 and was part of a group comprising Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Jason Day.

"The course is not easy, but Brooks made it seem easy," said Perez. "I saw him on Tuesday when I played with him, and I actually congratulated him on his victory."

But it's far from over, even before Lee took his afternoon to reduce his lead. Fowler was amused when asked how close he should be to Koepka before the final round on Sunday.

"What makes you think that he will lead?" Said Fowler. "I would say that there is no really safe lead here."

Koepka failed to birdie the two normal 5 games, missing a 10-foot birdie putter on No. 13 and looking for a draw on the fourth hole, easier. He also missed a 7-foot birdie putt on the 11th and an 8-foot birdie putt. Yes, that could have been special. Again, he also made four putts of birds 15 feet or more, including the longest at the beginning and end of his round.

"When this putt went into No. 10, it's a little momentum that gave me," Koepka said. "But I never thought about the course record or anything, just trying to get the best out of it, as simple as that, keep going and complete them at the end."

He is the ninth player to open a major with 63 goals, only two of which were won: Jack Nicklaus at Baltusrol in the 1980 US Open and Raymond Floyd at Southern Hills at the 1982 PGA Championship.

There is a long way to go. Given Koepka's record in major tournaments – three wins and one finalist in his last seven major tournaments – this seemed less time consuming. Koepka was seriously close to a boguey one time, and he made a normal 10-foot sixth hole.

Woods managed to tie, but only briefly.

His opening tee shot took enough rebounds to barely get into the rough, and he left him no choice but to sneak. The mistake was a bevel that passed to the back of the green and Woods threw back his head knowing his mistake. His quick step went 6 feet and he failed to open with a double boguey. His other double bogey came to normal 3, when he fell into the face of a bunker, blew himself out longer and took three minutes to get off.

A birdie started in ninth place and a 30-foot eagle in the fourth quarter earned him 1 point. And then, he bugged three of the next four holes.

"I fought to come back and unfortunately, I did not manage to stay together at the end," he said.