Brooks Koepka is continuing to rewrite major championship record books as he enters the weekend seven shots clear of the lead at the 101st PGA Championship at Bethpage Black Golf Course.
Shooting a second-round 5-under par 65, Koepka sits at 12-under par for the tournament, a major championship scoring record. What should be even scarier for the field of 82 men who earned the right to play the weekend is that Koepka doesn’t think he’s playing that well.
“This probably sounds bad, but today was a battle,” Koepka said. “I didn’t strike it that good. I was leaking a few to the right. The way I hung in there today and battled it, I think that was probably more impressive than yesterday, not having your “A” game, but still being able to shoot a great score. I was very, very pleased with the way I played today.”
Koepka wasn’t able to keep a clean card through 36 holes, dropping two shots to par in his second round, but he more than made up for it by making seven birdies on Friday to open up a seven-shot cushion over Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott.
Perhaps nothing has been more impressive over the first two rounds of the second major championship of the year than the dismantling Koepka did of his featured grouping. Playing alongside the reigning Masters and Open Champion, Koepka beat Tiger Woods and Francesco Molinari by a combined 29 strokes.
Brooks just beat the Masters champ by 17.
— Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) May 17, 2019
Looking for his fourth major championship victory in the last three years, it’s going to take a special effort from a pack of golfers who seem to be playing a different golf course than Koepka has been through 36 holes.
“I’d like to see that lead grow as large as it possibly can,” Koepka said. “I still have to go out there and do what I’m supposed to do, keep putting the ball in the right spot and make sure that you don’t make any double-bogeys, and I should have a good chance of winning the championship.”
Koepka will play along Spieth on Saturday at Bethpage, teeing off at 2:50 p.m.
