Brooks Koepka looked back to his best in round one of LIV Singapore on Friday, after the five-time major champion started his week with a five-under-par 66 at Sentosa Golf Club.
Koepka headed into the event having struggled for form, especially after an underwhelming outing at last month's Masters. The Smash GC captain ended the week at Augusta in a tie for 45th at nine-over-par, having began his prepration to win his first green jacket last December - prep time he has since described as 'wasted'.
Quizzed on how his game felt heading into this week, and with his PGA Championship defence around the corner, he admitted on Wednesday: "Clearly not very good, with Augusta the way that it went.
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"I kind of felt like I wasted all the time from December until then. Just keep grinding away, keep doing the work, and hopefully something will turn around." He will no doubt be keen to rejuvenate his game in Singapore this week ahead of major No. 2 at Valhalla this month, and went some way to doing this on Friday.
Following the opening 18 holes, Koepka finds himself just one shot behind leader Sebastian Munoz in a tie for second alongside a number of stars at five-under-par. On day one, the American impressed with six birdies - five coming on the front nine - and just one bogey to sign for a 66.
One key issue for Koepka in recent months has been on the greens, having chopped and change with his putter. On the back of his opening round this week though, the PGA champion has already seen improvements. "Yeah, I thought I putted okay," he commented. "Speed was off, but the ones that I needed to make, I felt like I made."
Brooks Koepka is one shot off the lead (Matthew Bolt/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Koepka's opening round came on his birthday, with the Smash skipper putting together a much-improved round all whilst turning 34. Any celebrations will have to wait though, with the five-time major champion firmly focused on banking his first LIV victory of the 2024 campaign.
"Yeah, winning. Winning matters," he said. "I pretty much have won all around the world. I don't care where I play, where I'm at. I just want to win. That's the whole goal of teeing it up. If I didn't want to win, I wouldn't be here." Even after his week in Singapore, Koepka has admitted he will not be treating himself to a birthday tipple with his PGA Championship defence approaching.
"I don't drink during tournament weeks, so I'm not going to do anything, especially with the PGA coming up. I'm dry, so I won't be doing anything. Just like I said, it's going to be golf, work out -- I'm very boring in the weeks that I play. Try to go back, try to see if I can hang out with Jenna and Crew for a bit, but I'll be kind of busy. We're just going to go out to dinner tonight, and that's it."
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