Brooks Koepka Frustrated; Jordan Spieth Wanted More from Round
Brooks Koepka came off Royal St. George’s golf course frustrated with some decisions he made during his second round at the British Open. Jordan Spieth told Todd Lewis of Golf Channel that he was pleased with his game.
Both still have excellent chances to emerge victorious on Sunday.
Koepka’s annoyance came from a bogey at the 3rd and a double at the 4th.
“Can’t make a double bogey in a major championship,” he said to media after his round.
Koepka prides himself on making smart decisions on the golf course and felt that those two holes were examples of not playing smart golf. Particularly at the fourth.
“I was so mad at myself at making a mental mistake, talking Ricky into 3-wood,” he explained. “When you make a mental mistake and a poor swing it’s going to be a disaster.”
He added that he’s fine with the bad swing here and there but that he had no excuse for mental mistakes.
One adjustment Koepka made on Friday was to be more aggressive with his putting stroke on Royal St. George’s slow greens. He believed the combination of hitting the ball harder on the putting surfaces and the greens speeding up gave him more success in round two. He putted well, taking an average of 1.56 strokes per green.
Koepka birdied the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 14th, 16th, 17th and 18th. Unfortunately, he bogeyed the 3rd and 15th and doubled the 4th. Without the three bad holes, he was looking at a potential 62.
He believes he will need to be within two or three of the lead at the end of tomorrow to have a chance to overtake the competition on Sunday. He’s in 12th place at 5-under par.
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Jordan Spieth continued his good play, but his score was two shots higher in round two than round one.
“Those last six holes were kind of frustrating,” he said to media after his round. “I think I need to bring more food on the golf course tomorrow.”
He complained that he was fatigued when he got to the 13th hole. That, he thinks, may have affected his focus at the end of the day.
The greens, he noticed, started to get a little shiny, and that means they may be getting drier. Stopping balls on them will be more difficult.
Regarding putting, he said, “The greens are effectively a lot smaller than they look, where the pins can actually be located in a lot of runoffs.”
That makes it difficult to aim at a pin, and it creates a premium on a good first putt.
“I don’t really need to do anything differently,” he said to Todd Lewis of Golf Channel after his round. “ I like where I’m at striking the golf ball. I just need to hole a few more putts.”
With the conditions, he expected to be able post a lower score, but he’ll be in the second to last group on Saturday. He is in third, three shots back of leader Louis Oosthuizen, who is at 11-under par.