Holmqvist takes one-shot lead at British Open

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – A long row of open palms awaits players as they make the long walk from the 14th green, down the grassy hill, across Round Swamp Road, and onto the 15th tee. Fans reach over the rope and hope for the best, and many players steer clear. Brooks Koepka touched seemingly every one as he cut through Bethpage Black in round two of the 101st PGA Championship. The defending champ, who shot a 5-under 65 to build a seven-shot lead over Adam Scott (64) and Jordan Spieth (66), is not one to worry about hand sanitizer or anything else. He is bidding to win his fourth major in his last eight starts, which is Tiger stuff, and he’s off to a dominating start while enjoying himself every step of the way. “The thing about Brooks is you know he cares,â€� said Paul Casey (71, 1 over), “but he plays like he just doesn’t give a s___, which is a brilliant place to be. And he’s very, very talented.â€� Koepka is turning this PGA into a walk in the (Bethpage State) park, and he didn’t even flinch at the guy who yelled “Shank it!â€� all the way up the 18th hole. Not even close. “I felt pretty confident I wasn’t going to shank the driver (laughter),â€� he said. “I mean, that happens every time you play with Tiger; New York. It’s fun. It’s just something to laugh at.â€� Ah, yes. Tiger. He shot 73 to miss the cut at 5 over, which means Koepka beat him by, ahem, 17 shots. One journalist even wondered aloud if it wasn’t a “passing of the torch.â€� Koepka didn’t go there. Like vintage Woods, though, he stomped on the accelerator and kept it down all the way. And like vintage Woods, he still wasn’t totally satisfied, heading to the range after the round. “This probably sounds bad, but today was a battle,â€� he said with a straight face before going out to work on his swing. “I didn’t strike it that good. I was leakin’ a few to the right.â€� Although he made his first two bogeys of the tournament at the 10th and 17th holes, Koepka hit 10 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens. He’s 12th in Strokes Gained: Putting, first in Scrambling, and now has the 18-, 36- and 72-hole scoring records at the PGA. Oh, and by the way, he also broke the old record for low 36-hole score (130) in a major, by two. Which begs the question: What about everyone else? “I know he’s won three majors,â€� said Scott, who finished third behind Koepka and Woods at last year’s PGA in St. Louis. “I know he seems impenetrable at the moment in this position, but at some point, he’s got to think about it. It has to come to an end eventually, that good front-running (laughing). Let’s hope it’s not 12 years, like Tiger’s front-running lasted.â€� This marks the largest 36-hole lead in PGA Championship history. Martin Kaymer at the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, Rory McIlroy at the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional, and Woods at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach all had six-shot leads through 36 holes. Greg Norman was ahead by six going into the last round at the 1996 Masters, but lost. With three wins and a runner-up in his last seven major starts, Koepka is plenty confident. “I’d like to see that lead grow as large as it possibly can,â€� he said. “I still have to go out there and do what I’m supposed to do, keep putting the ball in the right spot and make sure that you don’t make any double-bogeys, and I should have a good chance of winning the championship.â€� Five players are at 4 under, eight back, including Dustin Johnson (67), while Justin Rose (67) is nine back. But unless Koepka comes back to the field, they would seem to be too far back. Even Koepka’s closest pursuers may be doomed. Scott is a tee-to-green specialist whose putting can turn against him (he’s a tidy 11th in SG: Putting here). Spieth leads the field in SG: Putting, but was T88 (15 of 28 fairways) of 156 players in Driving Accuracy in rounds one and two. “You don’t expect Brooks to fall at all,â€� said Spieth, chasing his first win in nearly two years, “so I thought I needed to be within five or six or seven to feel like I had a chance on the weekend.â€� Rickie Fowler (69, 1 under) said earlier this week that Bethpage is so dangerous, no lead is safe. Scott seconded that Friday. “I think there’s doubles left and right out there once you get out of position,â€� he said. “Hey, if the guy can just keep doing that for another two days, then there’s not much you can do. But I think someone, hopefully me, will chip away tomorrow and sneak up in the right direction.â€� The only position Koepka has been in so far is the driver’s seat.

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The PGA TOUR’s annual migration east to Florida lands familiarly at The Honda Classic, but the 144 in the field are advised not to hit the ground running as much as to build a stance. No, not that kind, you aficionados of the rules, the kind that wards against careening out of control like a beach chair in the wind. The Champion Course at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens hosts the 50th edition of the tournament. It was the most difficult par 70 among all non-majors in each of the last four completed season, and in six of the last seven, and it’s been groomed for a stiffer challenge yet this week. You’ll find that detail, where the course compromises and more beneath the ranking of projected contenders. The Genesis Invitational co-runner-up Cameron Young, Matthew Wolff, Gary Woodland and Lee Westwood will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Draws and Fades. As if PGA National isn’t tough enough, the rough has been allowed to grow as much as another inch from previous years. Now upwards of three inches, the overseeded bermuda framing the landing areas figures to have a direct impact on what already is poised to log as the most challenging test in relation to par of the first 23 courses of the 2021-22 PGA TOUR season. Last year’s scoring average of 71.102 was typical. So was the invisible variable among the elements. This week’s forecast is favorable in that rain is not expected and daytime highs will touch 80 degrees throughout, but if you ever wanted to witness what wind does to decisions on tees and approach, this will check that box. That said, given the early peek at what’s in store, it could be worse, but forever respecting how gusts wreak havoc, it will be at times. At least the constant of winds pushing in from east and southeast align with the prevailing direction. That should be valuable for returning competitors who already have hit shots in these conditions on this course. Of course, The Bear Trap doesn’t care who navigates it, but it’s a shade more bark than bite. The attention to the par-3 15th, par-4 16th and par-3 17th holes is aided by the seven-foot, bronze statue of a bear standing on its hind legs and sporting a menacing mug, which is anything but average, but the none of the three holes is the hardest of its par on the course. It’s just that they’re in succession and at a time on a Sunday afternoon when it pays to be smarter than it. As a trio last year, the aggregate par 10 averaged 0.546 strokes over par. En route to his five-stroke victory, Matt Jones played the stretch in 2-under for the week with three birdies, eight pars and a bogey. Jones didn’t let The Bear Trap complicate his quest for the title because he, as the saying goes, golfed his ball. The Aussie led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. He also paced it in par-4 scoring, which is common for winners on tracks with as many as a dozen par 4s. The soft underbelly of the Champion Course is the pair of par 5s. Surrendering an average of 4.45, Nos. 3 and 18 tied for the fifth-easiest set among 51 courses used in the super season of 2020-21. That’s easily the easiest they’ve played since PGA National debuted as host in 2007, but it probably had more to do with the unusual timing of the tournament being contested in mid-March than its customary position in late February or very early March. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous perspectives. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Draws and Fades WEDNESDAY: Pick ’Em Preview SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Ranking * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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