You can call him the Majors Monster.
Brooks Koepka is right where he needs to be after the first round of the 148th Open Championship.
He’s right there, sitting near the top of the leader-board, his opening 68 has him a pair of shots behind first round leader J.B. Holmes. Koepka was a missed four-footer from being a shot off Holmes’ round of 66.
Four birdies, one bogey with that solo hiccup coming at the par four 17th when he hit his worst drive of the day, recovered nicely, pitched to four feet from short of the green then pulled the par putt.
Overall, a solid start for Koepka, who probably had his B-minus game on display.
He’s keeping it simple, using the course knowledge of his caddie — Ricky Elliott — who was a star junior player at Royal Portrush and claims to have played nearly 1,500 rounds on the course.
“It’s been relatively easy. He tells me where to hit it and we go from there,” Koepka said after his opening 68 put him on the first page of the scoreboard.
“The game plan is pretty concrete. I don’t have to do much thinking, just go out and play.”
Koepka stuck to his game plan again on Friday morning. Playing in near-perfect conditions, Brooks still didn’t have his best stuff but managed to finish with a two-under par 69 that got him to five-under and three back of J.B. Holmes — the early leader in the clubhouse.
Holmes was pretty steady once again. He backed up his opening 66 with 68 and was the early leader in the clubhouse at eight-under par.
Out on the course, Irishman Shane Lowry was five-under through his first nine holes and nine-under for the tournament with some heavy rain moving in for the late afternoon groups.
