AUGUSTA, Ga. — It’s beginning to look like Brooks Koepka’s Masters Tournament to win this weekend. The way he’s playing, it’s hard not to like his chances, though others will have a say. It could be a matter of when, since the tournament is in a holding pattern and could be headed to its first Monday finish since 1983.
It’s advantage Koepka. The first-round co-leader is among the 47 players, out of 86 starters, to finish 36 holes before Friday’s inclement weather shut down the 87th Masters, with Koepka holding a four-shot clubhouse lead over college golfer Sam Bennett.
The leaderboard could change, since 39 players have yet to complete their rounds, including Jon Rahm, a first-round co-leader. Rahm and the rest hope to do so Saturday morning, starting at 8, weather permitting.
Rahm is coming off back-to-back birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 and sits three behind Koepka. Next comes another first-round co-leader, Viktor Hovland, who is 1-over for his round and six shots behind Koepka, along with Collin Morikawa, who has completed his round.
There is a question of how many holes the players will complete on Saturday. The forecast is for all-day rain, including a 95 percent chance at 7 a.m. when temperatures will be in the low 50s.
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Koepka, a major championship specialist who thrives in the spotlight, continued his torrid play on Friday.
Koepka, who on Thursday opened with his career-low in the Masters, 65, followed that with 67 on Friday is now at 12-under 132. It’s the lowest 36-hole score since Jordan Spieth set the record at 130 in 2015. The record had been 131 by Raymond Floyd in 1976. Both Floyd and Spieth rolled to victories, Floyd by eight shots and Spieth by four.
Of course, Rahm still has nine holes to play in the third round. He shot 4-under 32 on the back nine on Thursday and, if he does that in second round, he’d be at 131.
Bryson DeChambeau caught some grief before the 2020 Masters when he said Augusta National was a par-67 layout for him because of his length off the tee.
Koepka has been besting that boast, averaging 66.5 per round. He has cleaned up on the par 5s, playing the eight holes in 7 under through two rounds. He has birdied Nos. 2 and 15 both days. On No. 8, he’s gone birdie-eagle and on No. 13, he has a bogey and a birdie. It is Koepka’s lone bogey of the tournament.
“You’ve got to make birdies on these par 5s, take advantage of them. And did a good job of that, playing them 5-under (on Friday),” Koepka said.
Bennett, 23, a fifth-year senior at Texas A&M, has been one of the biggest stories of the week. In the first two rounds, he outplayed playing partners – defending champion Scottie Scheffler (68-75–143) and No. 5 in the world Max Homa (71-74–144), who have combined for 12 PGA Tour victories.
On the other end of the spectrum was the disappointing play of World No. 2 Rory McIlroy. It seemed the stars were lining up for this to be the year he completed the career Grand Slam. But he shot 72-77–149 and will miss the cut, which is projected to be at 2-over 146. He had just seven birdies against 10 bogeys (seven of them on Friday) and a double bogey. He needed 62 putts over the two days.
Five-time champion Tiger Woods is on the cutline with seven holes to play. He opened with 74 and is at even par for his second round.
Koepka is going after a third leg of the career Grand Slam; he has two U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships. His best finish in the Masters is a tie for second in 2019.
“Yeah, the whole goal is to win the Grand Slam,” Koepka said. “I feel like all the greats have won here and they have all won British Opens as well. Look, I guess it’s one more box for me to tick to truly feel like I’ve done what I should have accomplished in this game.”
Injuries, especially to his right knee, derailed Koepka’s major championship run. He won his four between 2017-2019. His last major was the 2019 PGA Championship. His last win on the PGA Tour was in 2021 in Phoenix. Koepka now plays the LIV Golf tour, and won Sunday near Orlando, Fla.
“You can control what you can control,” said Spieth, who shot 70 on Friday and is seven behind Kopeka. “Ideally (the leader) would be somebody who would care more and potentially be feeling different than maybe Brooks will be. But at the same time, it’s been a little while for him, too.
“He did win last week,” Spieth said. “I don’t know kind of the way that feels on the LIV Tour, but he did win there against really good players, and comes in playing in great control of his game and has dealt with pushing a lead already out here. Yeah, ideally it would be if you were chasing, you don’t want to be chasing Tiger Woods, you want to be chasing somebody who’s never been there, but it doesn’t matter because you control what you can control, you and the golf course.”
Being here for the weekend is an unusual spot for Koepka. Battling his right knee injury, he missed the cut each of the past two years, shooting a combined 11-over for the four rounds. Last year was particularly frustrating. After two rounds of 75, he attempted to take out his frustration on a Mercedes-Benz courtesy car provided for the players.
“I don’t even know if I should be saying this, but pretty sure I tried to break the back window with my fist of the car, I tried to put it through the back window, not once but twice,” Koepka said. “First time didn’t go, so figured try it again. Yeah, apparently not strong enough. The ride home was pretty silent. I think just a lot of frustration. But yeah, I guess Mercedes makes a pretty good back window.”
He played in the 2021 Masters just two weeks after surgery on his knee. Even when his doctors advised against it. He shot 74-75.
“I just didn’t want to miss this,” Koepka said of the 2021 Masters. “I’ve missed enough majors. I missed like three or four through that whole stretch of 2016 to 2020. I missed a good bit of them, and I wasn’t – I don’t know, just tired of it. I felt like glass was always breaking. It’s not fun. But I feel a lot better now. To be here is special. It’s a special event.”
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