AUGUSTA: A winning trip to Saudi Arabia seems to have reawakened the major beast inside Brooks Koepka as he snatched a commanding lead midway through the 87th Masters Tournament.
The 32-year-old American shot a 7-under-par 65 on Thursday, and as dark clouds gathered over Augusta on Friday ahead of a dangerous weather system moving in which could hamper scoring later in the day, he added a bogey-free 5-under 67.
That gave him a 4-shot lead over second-placed Sam Bennett, the US Amateur Champion, who has proved to be a surprise package with two consecutive rounds of 68.
The man who won the PGA Championship in back-to-back years in 2018 and 2019, and the US Open in 2017 and 2018, said he is very close to his best form after enduring a couple of terrible years as he struggled with an injury when he shattered his left knee in a fall.
Koepka had thought of quitting golf more than once and exactly one year ago at the same Augusta National Golf Club, he was so frustrated with the state of his game and physique that he tried, not once but twice, to smash his fist into the back window of his courtesy Mercedes-Benz car after missing the cut.
Signs of recovery started appearing in his game toward the end of the year following a difficult surgery, and he won the LIV Invitational Jeddah when it was played in King Abdullah Economic City in October.
Koepka admitted he was not in the best of form during that week, but somehow managed to put together a solid performance and then beat his closest friend Peter Uihlein in a playoff.
Koepka, who also won the LIV Invitational Florida a couple weeks ago, said: “I started working with Claude Harmon after the LIV Invitation in Bedminster and there were a few moments where it was like, ‘OK, I can see it. I can see something on the horizon. It’s coming.’
“Even when we played and won in Saudi, I still didn’t feel like I had it fully back. I thought my game was just OK. I somehow got it around really well.
“But the Saudi win came at the perfect time. I definitely needed it. I don’t know if that spurred a little bit of confidence or what else it did, I felt some momentum starting to build. I stopped thinking and feeling I can’t do this anymore. And it has led me to this.”
On Friday, Koepka exploited the par 5s of Augusta National to the hilt, making birdies on three of the four, and adding an eagle on the remaining eighth hole.
“It was really solid. Didn’t do too much wrong. Maybe the speed kind of got me on a few putts as I wasn’t hitting them hard enough towards the end, but I was striking the ball really well and leaving it in good spots,” added Koepka, whose world ranking has fallen to 118.
“That’s what you’ve got to do here. You’ve got to make birdies on these par 5s… take advantage of them. And I did a good job of that.”
Meanwhile, world No. 2 Rory McIlroy looked set to miss the cut and will have to wait at least one full year to realize his dreams of completing a career grand slam. The Northern Irishman was 4 over for the day after 17 holes and two shots outside the cut-line at 4-over-par total.
Five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods had played six holes and was even-par for the day.
Phil Mickelson, a three-time champion in Augusta and another LIV Golf star, shot a 3-under-par 69 on Friday and was just outside the top 10 at 4-under-par total.
