PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – Just weeks back from a long-term wrist injury, Brooks Koepka has equaled THE PLAYERS Championship course record with a final round 9-under 63. The current U.S. Open champion and two-time PGA TOUR winner had six birdies and just the second albatross in the history on the par-5 16th hole to rocket up the leaderboard. His 11-under 277 total moved him as high as third but he still sits eight shots adrift of Webb Simpson’s 54-hole mark of 19-under. Koepka joins Fred Couples (1992), Greg Norman (1994), Roberto Castro (2013), Martin Kaymer 2014), Jason Day (2016), Colt Knost (2016) and Webb Simpson (2018) in the record books. Incredibly, Koepka went deep without taking advantage of the gettable par-5 2nd and 11th holes, nor the drivable par-4 12th. After turning at 4 under Koepka birdied the 14th and then holed out from 208 yards with his 6-iron on the 16th to join Rafa Cabrera-Bello (2017) as the only players to do so on that hole. Hunter Mahan (2007) made albatross on the 11th and Peter Lonard did so on the 2nd hole in 2007. Koepka then birdied the island green par-3 17th before settling over a 12-foot attempt for a 62 on 18. “I thought I made it,â€� Koepka said after it slid past. “I hit that putt in practice and you’re always trying to die it in and it always seems to break a little bit more than you think. “I hit a great putt, I’m not going to lie, I knew it was for the course record, but sometimes you hit a good putt and it doesn’t go in. So it is what it is.â€� As for his albatross, Koepka claimed he actually hit a poor drive after trying to hit one extra hard. It missed the center of the face and as such stayed in the fairway. But when his approach shot one hopped into the hole all he could do was laugh, especially after he had complained to his caddie earlier in the round that nothing was getting super close. “We haven’t had a tap-in like all week. Since we’ve come back I don’t think we have hit one like inside the leather where you can walk up and just tap it in,â€� he explained. “And then hit one pretty tight on 14 and then obviously make one on 16. If you’re going to talk about it you might as well do it.â€� Now the focus moves ahead as he begins his charge in the FedExCup and tries to defend his U.S. Open crown next month. Having sat out four months following wrist surgery, the 28-year-old will make a significant dent in his FedExCup ranking which sat at 111th coming into THE PLAYERS. “There’s nobody more excited to be here than me, I can tell you that,â€� he said. “To get back out, it felt like it took forever. The days were very long during that four-month period and to get out, it’s refreshing to be outside and just to get started practicing. “I thought that was so much fun and even finally to get back in competition because that’s what I miss the most.â€�
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