PLAYERS: Koepka implodes as 2022 challenge ends with 81

It was a rough day for most at the Players Championship on Saturday, but it was the stuff of nightmares for four-time major winner Brooks Koepka.

Koepka was at even par and just six shots off the lead after his first round, flash forward to the end of round number two, and you will find Brooks at nine-over par and with his 2022 Players Championship over. His 81 on Saturday was tied for the worst round amongst those who completed their second round for the day, only Ryan Brehm would go onto match that.

Brooks Koepka’s round included a triple bogey, two doubles, and four bogeys. The iconic 17th would haunt Koepka during his 2022 tournament and was responsible for the brutal triple-bogey he took near the completion of his front nine on Saturday.

A triple bogey on the iconic 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass was just the cherry on top of what was a horrific Saturday for Brooks Koepka.

Brooks Koepka was already four over par for his round when he approached the 17th, par 3, with its Island green on Saturday. Brooks pulled out his 8-iron after watching Scottie Scheffler’s approach moments earlier stop just shy of the water on the back of the green. The result was a shot that the wind caught and forced down into the water short of the green.

“Yeah, I hit 8. There’s nothing you can do. We hit a gust. I don’t think it was going harder for anybody else out here than when me, Scottie, and Xander played it,” Brooks Koepka answered following his round when he was asked if he had initially pulled a 7-iron.

He would go onto hit the green with his third from the drop zone, though he was well short of the hole. From there it took him three putts to put an end to the miserable outcome, this included a short miss from 4 feet away with his second putt.

“It’s one of those things you just try to hit the right shot. It’s like anything. You try to hit the right shot, and hopefully it doesn’t gust up or doesn’t die down the second you do it,” he added.

Unfortunately for Brooks, it was not the right shot, and it was just the beginning of a terrible round. It also wasn’t the first time that the 17th hole got the best of him in 2022. Brooks Koepka made a double on the iconic hole during his first round as well.

He would go on to make another double bogey on his back nine on the par 4, 4th hole, and an additional two bogeys on his way to a 38. The miserable second round all but officially ended his chances at the 2022 Players Championship.

It hasn’t been a great start to 2022 for a player that spoke of his displeasure with his current world ranking back at the WM Phoenix Open. Brooks Koepka will have missed the cut in three of his six starts to begin the year after this week. He will be hoping for better results as the year progresses.