Brooks Koepka 'pretty pleased' after Round 1 at the U.S. Open
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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Brooks Koepka’s first tee shot at the 2019 U.S. Open rolled into a divot. It didn’t matter. Koepka has been unstoppable in this event. An imperfect lie wasn’t going to stop him.
He birdied the hole, then added three more in the next five holes, including a chip-in, to quickly put his name on another leaderboard in a major championship.
Koepka couldn’t keep up the pace after exiting Pebble Beach’s easy opening stretch, though. He struggled with his ball-striking and made three bogeys and just a single birdie the rest of the way. His 2-under 69 leaves him just four shots off Justin Rose’s lead, however.
Koepka hit half his fairways Thursday and 12 of 18 greens.
“It's a battle if you're not going to hit fairways. If you're not going to hit greens, it's going to be tough,” said Koepka, who’s seeking a third consecutive U.S. Open title. “I'm actually quite pleased. I don't know how many fairways I hit from 8 on in. I didn't hit many.”
He was scheduled to start his second round at 8:02 a.m. Friday, some 13 hours after he signed his scorecard.
“Considering how I hit it coming in, I'm pretty pleased,” Koepka said. “I didn't shoot myself out of it. I'm right there. I feel like if I get off to a good start tomorrow, I'm right back into it.”
Koepka is third in the FedExCup thanks to wins at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES and PGA Championship. Last month’s win at Bethpage Black was his fourth major championship.
Sean Martin manages PGATOUR.COM’s staff of writers as the Lead, Editorial. He covered all levels of competitive golf at Golfweek Magazine for seven years, including tournaments on four continents, before coming to the PGA TOUR in 2013. Follow Sean Martin on Twitter.