A corner was turned at LIV Golf Bangkok for Brooks Koepka last week as he captured his first top-10 finish since becoming a member of the new golf circuit. Carrying that momentum, the 32-year-old was at it again at 2022 LIV Golf Jeddah on Friday and opened with a flawless round of 8-under 62 at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.
Beginning his day on the back nine, Koepka quickly ascended to the top of the leaderboard with birdies on Nos. 16-17. Unable to take advantage of the gettable par-5 18th, the four-time major champion then caught fire on the front nine of Royal Greens making five birdies against zero bogeys.
Koepka added another on the 10th and murmurs of 59 began to circulate around the broadcast as Koepka saw not only his name, but that of his brother atop the leaderboard. Letting a few scoring opportunities fall by the wayside coming home, Koepka ultimately signed for his 62.
Good for a two-stroke lead over LIV London winner Charl Schwartzel, Koepka is now in position to raise his first trophy since the 2021 WM Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour. His Smash GC team is also primed for its best effort of the season as Koepka’s team owns the top spot on the leaderboard at 15 under.
The leader
1. Brooks Koepka (-8)
Koepka has always been a golfer to play his best golf in the second or third week of a competitive stretch. He mentioned this repeatedly when asked about his preparations for major championship and with the switch to LIV Golf, continuity has been hard to come by. With the tournament schedule spread out, Koepka has visibly struggled up until last week at LIV Golf Bangkok and the first round in LIV Golf Jeddah.
“I think last week was kind of a turning point for me,” Koepka said. “I’ve worked pretty hard with Claude [Harmon], with Pete [Cowen] and Jeff [Pierce] over these last few months, getting back together with Claude and getting to see Pete a bit more. So this is the first time I’ve played back-to-back weeks since February. So tough to build a rhythm. I could see it coming. I’m very pleased with it, pleased with last week, and you know, hopefully just put together two more good rounds.”
Other contenders
2. Charl Schwartzel (-6)
T3. Hideto Tanihara, Peter Uihlein, Patrick Reed (-5)
T6. Turk Petit, James Piot, Carlos Ortiz (-4)
T9. Marc Leishman, Jediah Morgan, Anirban Lahiri, Abraham Ancer, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson (-3)
A possible engagement bump is brewing for Turk Petit who popped the question to his now fiancée Thursday on the Red Sea. The former NCAA individual champion carded five birdies against just on bogey and is tied with his fellow Niblicks teammate James Piot. They are two of the younger competitors on LIV Golf and have struggled throughout their tenure, but perhaps this is the week where the former collegiate studs will finally find their footing much like Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra did at LIV Bangkok.
Team leaderboard
|
1 |
Smash |
Chase Koepka, Peter Uihlein, Brooks Koepka, Jason Kokrak |
-15 |
|
T2 |
Torque |
Jediah Morgan, Hideto Tanihara, Scott Vincent, Joaquin Niemann |
-10 |
|
T2 |
Niblicks |
Turk Petit, James Piot, Hudson Swafford, Harold Varner III |
-10 |
|
T2 |
Fireballs |
Sergio Garcia, Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra |
-10 |
|
5 |
Stinger |
Branden Grace, Shaun Norris, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel |
-9 |
|
6 |
4 Aces |
Talor Gooch, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Pat Perez |
-8 |
|
7 |
Hy Flyers |
Bernd Wiesbeger, Phil Mickelson, Matthew Wolff, Cameron Tringale |
-7 |
|
8 |
Majesticks |
Sam Horsfield, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson |
-6 |
|
T9 |
Punch |
Matt Jones, Wade Ormsby, Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman |
-5 |
|
T9 |
Crushers |
Bryson DeChambeau, Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri |
-5 |
|
11 |
Iron Heads |
Sadom Kaewkanjana, Phacara Khongwatmai, Sihwan Kim, Kevin Na |
-4 |
|
12 |
Cleeks |
Richard Bland, Laurie Canter, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell |
E |