Day: June 14, 2019

U.S. Open 2019: Lucas Bjerregaard sends two balls, one driver into the water at 18, makes an 11U.S. Open 2019: Lucas Bjerregaard sends two balls, one driver into the water at 18, makes an 11

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How Tiger hit it all over the place, still got himself in the U.S. Open mixHow Tiger hit it all over the place, still got himself in the U.S. Open mix

Tiger Woods’ iron game deserted him. His putter showed up out of nowhere. His first round at the U.S. Open was solid, even if it made little sense. We go through every hole to try and explain it.

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Ripped Aaron Wise rises at Pebble BeachRipped Aaron Wise rises at Pebble Beach

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Aaron Wise beat Brooks Koepka by two shots in the final round of THE NORTHERN TRUST during last season’s FedExCup Playoffs but walked off the course knowing he needed to adapt to compete with the PGA TOUR Player of the Year. Neither had won the opening Playoff (Wise was fifth, Koepka eighth) but Wise had paid particular attention to Koepka’s ability to hit mid-irons out of the rough and on to the greens during their pairing. The former college star knew there was no way he could do that with his slight frame and if he was to continue his winning habits, he felt he might need to change things up. As a result Wise has since put on 20 pounds of muscle. It was an interesting choice given he had already won the NCAA Championship with Oregon and had trophies from the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada, the Web.com Tour and the PGA TOUR. He is the reigning PGA TOUR Rookie of The Year thanks mainly to his win at the AT&T Byron Nelson last year. So far this season Wise is 101st in the FedExCup with his lone top-10 coming last November at the Mayakoba Golf Classic. Stats suggest it is not getting used to his new frame that is the problem, unless the extra muscle has him hammering putts a little too hard. While ranked 16th on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee Wise is 176th in Strokes Gained: Putting. But on Thursday at the U.S. Open Wise produced his best opening round of the year. He shot a 5-under 66 at Pebble Beach to join a four-way tie for second, just one behind Justin Rose and gained 4.36 strokes on the greens in the round, ranked fourth in the field. “It was solid, it was nice to get my putter going. That’s kind of what’s been missing this whole year for me in a way. And today I was able to putt well,â€� Wise said. “Just really matching line and speed. I don’t think it is stroke-related at all. It’s just reading the putt correctly and hitting it with the appropriate speed and just been doing a lot of drills to emphasize that and it seems to be working.â€� But back to Koepka, the man who has won four of his last eight majors. Wise has built up a friendship with him. And is still trying to learn from him. They played a practice round together this week where Wise was once again keenly observing. “Something I can take away from him is just his calmness,â€� Wise said. “He’s literally the calmest person in the world. It’s just a calming influence and I can kind of just take away his mentality towards these (events), and the fact that he really slows things down and calms things down even more and that works well for him.â€� Just like Koepka Wise isn’t short on confidence. He expects more than he has delivered thus far this season but knows there is still time. He hopes that patience is rewarded. “Winning is kind of a habit,â€� he explains. “The only way you know you can do it is if you actually do it and put yourself in those situations over and over again. And winning last year… just makes you hungrier and makes you want to get there more. “I haven’t had exactly the best year yet but we still have two majors left and a WGC event and the Playoffs. There are still some big events ahead of me and I don’t need to kind of rush and think that this year is over almost already.â€�

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Brooks Koepka ‘pretty pleased’ after Round 1 at the U.S. OpenBrooks Koepka ‘pretty pleased’ after Round 1 at the U.S. Open

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Brooks Koepka’s first tee shot at the 2019 U.S. Open rolled into a divot. It didn’t matter. Koepka has been unstoppable in this event. An imperfect lie wasn’t going to stop him. He birdied the hole, then added three more in the next five holes, including a chip-in, to quickly put his name on another leaderboard in a major championship. Koepka couldn’t keep up the pace after exiting Pebble Beach’s easy opening stretch, though. He struggled with his ball-striking and made three bogeys and just a single birdie the rest of the way. His 2-under 69 leaves him just four shots off Justin Rose’s lead, however. RELATED: Tee times | Tiger cards 1-under 70 | Calm conditions lead to low scores | Koepka chases three-peat | Fowler opens with 66 Koepka hit half his fairways Thursday and 12 of 18 greens. “It’s a battle if you’re not going to hit fairways. If you’re not going to hit greens, it’s going to be tough,â€� said Koepka, who’s seeking a third consecutive U.S. Open title. “I’m actually quite pleased. I don’t know how many fairways I hit from 8 on in. I didn’t hit many.â€� He was scheduled to start his second round at 8:02 a.m. Friday, some 13 hours after he signed his scorecard. “Considering how I hit it coming in, I’m pretty pleased,â€� Koepka said. “I didn’t shoot myself out of it. I’m right there. I feel like if I get off to a good start tomorrow, I’m right back into it.â€� Koepka is third in the FedExCup thanks to wins at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES and PGA Championship. Last month’s win at Bethpage Black was his fourth major championship.

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