LOS ANGELES — Brooks Koepka won his fifth career major tournament title last month when he captured his third PGA Championship at Oak Hill.
At the 123rd U.S. Open this week, however, Koepka has been somewhat running in place, standing at even-par through 36 holes and well off the lead.
Yet …
“I’m actually playing better than I did at Oak Hill,’’ Koepka said Friday after he shot a 1-under 69, which had him in 37th place when he finished his round. “I don’t think I played that great Saturday, Sunday [at Oak Hill]. I didn’t have it.’’
What’s the difference between then and now, Oak Hill and Los Angeles Country Club?
“I’m not a huge fan of this place,’’ Koepka said. “I’m not a huge fan of blind tee shots, and then I think there’s just some spots that no matter what you hit, the ball just ends up in the same spot. I think it would be more fun to play on just like a regular round than it would be a US Open. I mean, there’s, what, two 8s yesterday? That doesn’t happen [at a U.S. Open].’’
Koepka said before the US Open began that he thrives in more difficult course conditions because he believes his mental toughness can wear opposing players down.
He’s not a fan of courses that yield low scores. And LACC, during the first round, yielded a record number of low scores for a US Open.
When asked if it would be possible to “trick’’ the course up to be more difficult, Koepka said: “I think if you made the greens a little bit faster, but I don’t know if you really can.
Then it might be interesting, that’s for sure.’’
Koepka said he was done in during the first two rounds by “just little dumb stuff.’’
When asked if not liking a course can have a negative effect on performance, Koepka seemingly didn’t want to be perceived as using that as an excuse.
“No, no, no,” he said. “I’ve won majors on golf courses that I haven’t really liked too much. But, yeah, this one, I don’t know, it’s just … it’s not my favorite.’’
Can he win his sixth career major from so far back?
“Obviously, I got to play two good rounds, so that’s something I have to do,’’ he said. “But definitely would like to be further up from where I’m at. It all depends what happens [later in the second round]. … I saw Rickie [Fowler] was at 10 [under] when I signed my scorecard, so who knows what those guys are going to get to.’’