SINGAPORE - History beckons for Brooks Koepka at the Sentosa Golf Club, as the 34-year-old closes in on his fourth title on the LIV Golf league.
The 34-year-old American is among three others – Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith and Talor Gooch – with three wins in the breakaway series.
The five-time Major champion posted a blemish-free seven-under 64 on the second day of LIV Golf Singapore.
His 12-under 130 saw him leapfrogging first-round leader Sebastian Munoz (70) and finishing three shots ahead of the second-placed quartet of Thomas Pieters (67), Adrian Meronk (66), Abraham Ancer (67) and Matthew Wolff (65).
The torrential rain that greeted the golfers on the morning of May 4 and caused flight delays at Changi Airport did little to distract Koepka from his plan for domination.
With round 2 suspended and resuming only at 2pm after a 4hr 45min delay, he spent the downtime unwinding by watching ice hockey and basketball play-off matches with his Smash GC teammates.
He said: “You find things to do to pass time and just sit at the table watching a little bit of basketball and time goes by pretty quick.”
But, once the horn went off for the shotgun start, it was back to business for Koepka as he attacked the pins on the softer, water-soaked greens.
Starting from the first hole, Koepka fired off three birdies from Nos. 4 to 6 before closing with four more in his final six holes. He needed only 26 putts and hit 15 out of 18 greens in regulation.
He added: “You just go about it and you kind of feel it out the first couple of holes and then go from there and see where things are at. Then you kind of get an idea how it’s playing.
“Ball-striking is finally starting to come around, putting starting to heat up a bit. I think I’m just hitting better golf shots, kind of fundamentals and with a bit of swagger. Just pleased with the way I’ve played so far.”
Pieters, who played in the same flight as Koepka, said it would be an uphill task to catch him in the final round on May 5.
The 32-year-old Belgian added: “Every putt I look at, Brooks has basically holed all of them today. So I assume he’s going to do the same tomorrow and it’s going to take a very big effort for us behind him to win.”
American Wolff, 25, who switched from Koepka’s Smash GC team to RangeGoats for the 2024 season, said: “I’m not worried about what other people are doing. I just go out there and give it my best.”
Koepka, who turned 34 on May 3, will have added motivation heading into the final round. He attributed his upturn in form to a poor showing at the recent Masters, where he finished tied-45th.
“I think the embarrassment of Augusta kind of kicked things into drive for me and really made me put my nose down.
“Hopefully I can carry this momentum into the PGA Championship.”
