Getty Image / David Cannon / Contributor
Sure, Brooks Koepka has won three of the last seven majors, but nobody saw a seven-under 63 coming from anyone at Bethpage Black on Thursday morning. With its narrow fairways, eight acres worth of bunkering and some of the thickest rough these guys will see all year, the Black course is supposed to hand out the punishment, not take it.
The course even has a (gimmicky) warning sign out in front, which Koepka basically laughed at on his way to posting the course record.
The scary thing? He could’ve taken it even lower.
Koepka played alongside Tiger Woods and Francesco Molinari on Thursday and even Tiger thought the round could’ve been better.
“He played well. I mean, he hit a couple loose tee shots today that ended up in good spots, but I think that was probably the highest score he could have shot today,” said Woods. “He left a few out there with a couple putts that he missed. But it could have easily been a couple better.”
This quote is a great insight into how these guys think. I mean, you just got done witnessing a historic round, but let’s not forget those two to three bad swings that kept that 63 from ‘easily’ being a couple better. Koepka beat Molinari and Woods by a combined nine shots on Thursday, by the way.
Tiger isn’t wrong however, Koepka could’ve legitimately flirted with a 10-under 60.
The biggest missed opportunities came on the two Par 5’s as he made par on both. That sentence alone shows just how special the round was; you don’t see many 63’s without a birdie on a Par 5.
Starting on the back-nine, No. 13 was his first look at a Par 5. He found a fairway bunker off the tee, but was still able to give himself a 10-foot birdie putt. His worst tee shot of the day then came on the very reachable Par 5 fourth as he drove it into the native grass before two-putting from 35-feet for his par.
Koepka also missed an eight-foot birdie putt on No. 2, a seven-foot birdie putt at the 11th and a 22-footer on 16. To say the man was dialed in would be a disgusting understatement, but again, a 60 definitely showed a glimpse of chance.
It can’t be stressed enough just how tough Bethpage was playing for everyone not named Brooks Koepka during the morning wave. The scoring average as he posted his seven-under round was just below three-under; he was beating the field senseless.
That 63 number at the PGA Championship isn’t an unfamiliar one for Koepka as he shot a 63 on Friday of last year’s PGA Championship which he went on to win.
This number doesn’t even seem real, at all, but Koepka is now 35-under par over his last nine rounds played in majors. That gives him a scoring average of 67 and if he stays on that trend he’ll be hoisting The Wanamaker Trophy for the second straight year without question.
Tommy Fleetwood’s 67 was the closest number posted by anyone in the morning wave within striking distance of Koepka. Danny Lee caught some serious fire in the afternoon as well finishing his day with a six-under 64 which included two bogeys.