AUGUSTA, Ga. — Brooks Koepka was in a vulnerable spot when LIV’s Greg Norman offered him more than $100 million of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund about a year ago.
That likely made the decision to say goodbye to the PGA Tour and everything he dreamed of growing up a lot easier. After all, it was around that time that things got so bad for Koepka that he twice attempted to punch out the back window of his vehicle after missing the cut at the Masters.
Fast-forward one year. With Koepka now saying he’s not far off from being the man who dominated major golf for more than a two-year stretch, he may be regretting that decision to join a league in which one of its marquee players, Cameron Smith, admitted the fields are not up to PGA Tour quality.
After shooting a bogey-free 67 on Friday at the Masters, which has him at 12 under on the leaderboard and up three shots when second-round play was suspended entering the weekend, Koepka was asked if the decision to join LIV would have been more challenging had he felt this good a year ago.
“Honestly, yeah, probably, if I’m being completely honest,” Koepka said. “I think it would have been. But I’m happy with the decision I made.”
Masters Leaderboard: Live leaderboard, schedule, tee times
But is he truly happy with that decision?
Because some of his comments reek of regret. Like admitting he misses competing against players such as Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler and those who are in Koepka’s universe when he is playing like he has the first two days at Augusta National.
Because other than Dustin Johnson and Smith, nobody on the LIV tour approaches Koepka when he is at his best.
“I see those guys down at The Grove all the time. I see the guys at Medalist. I see guys just out and about practicing,” said Koepka, who lives in Jupiter, Florida. “I think there’s probably about, what, six of us that live probably within a quarter mile of each other. So we end up running into each other a good bit.
“But it’s just competitively where you miss playing against them. Because you want Rory to play his best and Scottie to play his best and Jon (Rahm) to play his best and go toe-to-toe with them. I do miss that, and that’s one thing that I do miss, and that’s what I think makes these majors so cool.”
A tap-in birdie on No. 15 extends the lead for Brooks Koepka. #themasters pic.twitter.com/Nn7TCRyNFV
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 7, 2023
Koepka certainly is not facing that kind of competition playing on the LIV tour.
The old saying is “iron sharpens iron.” Koepka is playing mostly against rubber.
Is this Masters Koepka’s to lose?
It would be difficult finding anyone who believes Koepka would be playing 54-hole events in shorts and captaining something called Smash GC if his game was as sharp a year ago as it has been this week.
Koepka’s confidence has done such an about-face in the past year that it’s now difficult to envision a leaderboard without his name near or at the top as the final group strolls up the 18th fairway Sunday.
And it’s certainly difficult to envision him attempting to smash out the back window of a Mercedes-Benz with his fist.
“I tried to put it through the back window, not once but twice,” he said of the lowest period of his professional career. “First time didn’t go, so figured try it again.
“I guess Mercedes makes a pretty good back window.”
After 36 holes, Koepka has one bogey, and that was the result of a wayward tee shot on No. 13 on Thursday that forced him to take an unplayable lie. He’s also carded 11 birdies and an eagle. He played the par-5s in 5 under Friday, including that eagle on No. 8.
“It was a clinic for 36 holes,” said Gary Woodland, who is playing with Koepka the first two rounds.
“We were in the final group at Bellerive on Saturday, and it was the same thing,” Woodland said of the 2018 PGA Championship won by Koepka. “Just in control of his game.”
Koepka is back on that mission that saw him win two PGA Championships and two U.S. Opens in a span of about two years. He has those four majors to his credit but that puts him just halfway to a career Grand Slam.
Winning the Masters would leave him the British Open shy from completing what just five men have done.
‘Goal is to win the Grand Slam’
“The whole goal is to win the Grand Slam, right?” he said. “I feel like all the greats have won here and they have all won British Opens as well. 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.”
Those closest on the Masters leaderboard to Koepka are Rahm, amateur Sam Bennett, Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland. Rahm was 9 under after nine holes Thursday before play was suspended for the day. Bennett concluded his round at 8 under.
Brooks Koepka walks up the 18th hole during the second round of the 2023 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. (Photo: Rob Schumacher/USA TODAY)
But one of the biggest obstacles Saturday could be the weather.
Having played 36 holes in warm, humid conditions until the weather shifted Friday afternoon, Saturday’s forecast calls for temperatures to plummet more than 30 degrees into the low 50s with plenty of rain.
And that might not be the salve needed for a man with a knee that has been surgically repaired and continues to require rehab to keep down the swelling.
Koepka, though, doesn’t expect the weather to affect his knee. Not with the right preparation.
“I go through a pretty good warm-up routine,” he said. “I’ll probably go to the gym in the morning. I’ll be fine. I’ll be loosened up. … so I don’t expect anything.”
Anything, that is, other than getting one step closer to that Grand Slam.
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