Brooks Koepka loses lead in WGC after ‘bad day’ on the greens in Memphis

Scots duo to the fore in Hero Open at Forest of Arden
Brooks Koepka plays a shot on the tenth hole during the second round at TPC Southwind. Picture: Andy Lyons/GettyBrooks Koepka plays a shot on the tenth hole during the second round at TPC Southwind. Picture: Andy Lyons/Getty
Brooks Koepka plays a shot on the tenth hole during the second round at TPC Southwind. Picture: Andy Lyons/Getty

Brooks Koepka, the defending champion, said he wasn’t worried about losing his overnight lead after a poor putting day in the second round of the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational in Memphis.

After a dismal run of form, the 30-year-old had been back to his best as he opened with an eight-under-par 62, tying his career-best round, at TPC Southwind in Memphis to take a two-shot lead in the $10.5million event.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He was still going along nicely after moving to 10-under with birdies at the 11th and 18th on the front nine in his second circuit before having the wind taken out of his sails by a double-bogey 6 at the second.

Koepka, the 2013 Scottish Challenge winner at Aviemore, also dropped a shot at the fifth as he carded a one-over 71 for a seven-under halfway total, sitting four shots off the pace, held by compatriot Brendon Todd.

“Not really,” replied Koepka to being asked if the second round had felt more like work after feeling he hadn’t come close to breaking sweat on day one.

“I just putted bad. It wasn’t really anything other than that. Felt stress-free other than just missing some short ones. On the back nine they felt good, they were just missing, and on the front they just weren’t good putt,” he said.

The Floridian, who will also be the defending champion at next week’s US PGA Championship, the opening major of a muddled up season, at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, revealed after the first round that he’d started working with putting guru Phil Kenyon this week.

“I felt like I did everything we were trying to do, just wasn’t working, wasn’t seeing the line,” he added of how he’d performed on the greens. Even yesterday I said I didn’t feel quite comfortable over anything inside five feet and today it just felt kind of the same. But I’ve got 36 holes to go, so I ain’t worried.”

Todd, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this season, followed up an opening 64 with a bogey free 65 to move to 11-under, two ahead of 2015 Scottish Open champion Rickie Fowler (67), with former BMW PGA champion Ben An (65) and Chez Reavie (67) alongside Koepka on seven under.

“I have not hit the ball as crisply the first two days and maybe some other tournaments this year, but I’ve probably putted the best of any tournament this year so far,” said Todd. “This is definitely the most confident I’ve ever felt with my golf game. It’s probably the most versatile I’ve ever been ball-striking-wise. I still don’t hit it far, but I feel like I’m able to shape shots a little bit. And my short game’s solid, so it just kind of comes down to how the putting is.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Rory McIlroy, who needs to win on Sunday to regain the world No 1 spot, bounced back from a disappointing 73 in the first round with a 66 to jump into joint 33rd on one-under, five shots ahead of both top-ranked Jon Rahm (74) and Scottish No 1 Bob MacIntyre (73).

On the European Tour, Scottish duo Richie Ramsay and Grant Forrest are handily-placed heading into the final two rounds of the Hero Open at Forest of Arden Marriott Golf & Country Club, near Birmingham. In the second event on the new UK Swing, Ramsay and Forrest carded matching four-under-par 68s in the second round to sit joint 11th on seven under, six shots off the pace at the Midlands venue.

Overnight leader Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez was joined at the top of the leaderboard on 13-under by Sam Horsfield after the Englishman made an eagle and seven birdies in a nine-under 63. The effort came less than a week after Horsfield stormed up the leaderboard in the British Masters at Close House with a third-round 61.

In his record-breaking 707th European Tour appearance, Miguel Angel Jimenez slipped from two shots back at the start of the day to five behind while David Drysdale missed the cut by a stoke in his 500th event on the circuit.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director

Related topics:

Comments

 0 comments

Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.