For someone who needed a few holes for his swing to click and missed four putts inside 7 feet, Brooks Koepka was pleased with the 4-under 66 that had him just a shot off the lead Thursday at the Genesis Scottish Open.
“It could have been a very, very good round,” said Koepka, who after the morning wave at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick sits only behind co-leaders Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Tom Kim and Bernd Wiesberger.
“But then again, I’m happy with the way I battled back.”
Koepka’s day began frustratingly, as he not only missed both fairways and greens in regulation at No. 10 and 11 but also par putts from 3 feet and 4 feet, respectively. He then whiffed a 7-footer for birdie at the par-5 third and later a 20-incher that resulted in another par-5 par at No. 7.
Meanwhile, Koepka couldn’t find any of his first four fairways and located just six in regulation for the round. But he rallied to hit 14 greens and tally seven birdies, including at the par-3 ninth, where Koepka came within 15 inches of a hole-in-one.
Koepka explained that he’d been working on his swing pattern in recent days, trying to correct a takeaway that had gotten too far inside by making sure his right foot stays planted longer.
“I finally felt comfortable kind of maybe fifth or sixth hole in,” Koepka said. “It started to click as far as ball-striking, controlling flight, spin, all that stuff. Just pleased to build some confidence off that.”
Koepka made no mention of the arm numbness that had plagued him in recent starts – WD at the RBC Canadian Open, MC at U.S. Open. Instead, he’s feeling confident he can contend this week, provided he makes one, big adjustment:
“Just make some of those putts inside 5 feet.”
