WGC Mexico: Report cards for ten of the top PGA TOUR stars
By Bill Felber
As a three-time major champion and back-to-back U.S. Open winner –not to mention those biceps – Brooks Koepka is always interesting. Baffling, too, when he doesn’t perform especially well, as he didn’t in Mexico City.
At the WGC Mexico, he lingered toward the back of the field at 143 through two rounds before posting back-to-back weekend 69s. That enabled him to claw his way into a tie for 27th, which doesn’t sound very good until you consider where he started.
Koepka played unevenly, and often seemed at odds with his profile, particularly off the tee. In 2018, that was his strength, providing Koepka a half-stroke margin on the field. To date in 2019, it’s been a problem, handicapping Koepka by nearly a full stroke. In Mexico City, Koepka fully recovered from this season’s driving spasms, gaining 1.25 strokes on the field off the tee per round. He was, in short, in championship form.
His approaches and short game have never been more than a vehicle to get Koepka to the vicinity of the cup, but that was not the case at the WGC. His approaches were actually good, producing a three-quarters of a stroke average advantage per round. Around the greens was a less sanguine story; he gave about one-quarter stroke back.
Which brought Koepka to the hole itself … eventually. He was only a modestly productive putter in 2018, and has been below average this season. At the WGC Mexico, his putting game cratered, costing him more than 1.4 strokes per round.
If Koepka wants to contend for a third straight Open championship, that can’t happen.