Brooks Koepka likes to play fast.
He hates slow play and slow players and he hasn’t been afraid to let everyone know that.
On Sunday, he was paired with the slowest of the slow — J.B. Holmes.
Holmes, known as The Human Rain Delay, made things even tougher for Koepka to stomach over the final 18 holes.
While Koepka was on his way to fighting back after a four-bogey start, Holmes floundered and flopped his way around Royal Portrush to an embarrassing 87 that dropped him from third to a tie for 67th, a collapse of historic proportions for this venerable championship.
Holmes day saw him make a triple-bogey, four doubles, six bogeys, six pars and a single birdie.
But that didn’t change Koepka’s perception of Holmes as a slow player.
“That’s what I don’t understand when it’s your turn to hit, your glove is not on, then you start thinking about it, that’s where the problem lies,” Koepka said. “It’s not that he takes that long. He doesn’t do anything until his turn. That’s the frustrating part. But he’s not the only one that does it out here.”
After Koepka’s rough start, he drove the fifth green and sank a six-footer for eagle and went out in two-over.
The rain and wind held the pre-tournament favorite at bay. He made a birdie, and two bogeys coming home for 74.
Koepka was looking to make history by finishing first or second in all four majors this season.
As it was, he tied for fourth to end a pretty outstanding run.
Before the final 18, Koepka had declared: “Nobody has hit it better than me this week. I’ve hit it as good as I could possibly imagine.”
This time, his putter simply stayed at home and golf proved that no matter how good you hit it, you still have to make the putts.
2 Comments
baxter cepeda
You sure do have to make the putts. Ballstriking only gets players in contention. Putting wins it, as it did for Shane.
Brooks can blame his downfall on putting but his real demise was his mood because of JBs slow play.
I could tell brooks was visibly annoyed walking off the first tee. For a guy whom seems to have it all put together upstairs, this is a crack.
Don’t be surprised if the Euros slow play brooks to struggles next year at Chambers Bay. Heck the Internationals got some guys whom can lull him to sleep too, and unlike the Ryder Cup they can choose slow pokes to match brooks with.
Tom Edrington
As they said on morning drive, perhaps we’ve found Superman’s Kryptonite