For all of the bellyaching about Tiger Woods sucking up all of the oxygen around tournaments, the simple, undeniable truth is that Sundays are better when he’s in the hunt.
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Tiger Woods’ first round at The Masters since 2015 was the buzz going into Thursday, but Jordan Spieth’s dominance was the buzz coming out of it.
THE OVERVIEW By Cameron Morfit, PGATOUR.COM He sometimes wondered why he wasn’t winning more, but Brooks Koepka could finally exhale after he won the U.S. Open in Wisconsin last June. He not only salted away his first major but also tied the tournament record at 16-under-par at brawny Erin Hills. It had all worked out. TOP 30 PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2018: We’ll countdown our list with one new player each day in December. Click here for the published players. MORE: Top 30 explanation and schedule That wasn’t always a foregone conclusion. When Koepka left Florida State for the European Challenge Tour in the spring of 2012, he was taking a leap of faith, adhering to the old adage that sometimes you have to take a step backward to take a step forward. He would learn how to win, get his ranking up — that was the plan. He didn’t think he would try horsemeat in Kazakhstan. He did all of the above. Koepka won in bunches and worked his way up to the European Tour, and then the PGA TOUR. The rest is history, Koepka winning the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open at bomber-friendly TPC Scottsdale, and the U.S. Open. At 27, he had arrived. Not that Koepka doesn’t still march to his own drummer. Instead of teaming up with someone like his pal Dustin Johnson for the two-man Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Koepka called his little brother, Chase, who had been a top collegiate player from the University of South Florida. People raised eyebrows, and while Koepka insisted his brother could really play, he also admitted he wasn’t sure how it would go. “We could kill each other or it could be an awesome week,â€� he said. It was the latter, as the Brothers K tied for fifth. Another maverick move had paid off for Koepka, one of the most dynamic players in the game. Click here to follow Cameron on Twitter BY THE NUMBERS How Brooks Koepka ranked in Strokes Gained statistics during his last full season on the PGA TOUR. FEDEXCUP Current 2017-18 position: 25th Playoff appearances: 3 TOUR Championship appearances: 2 Best result: 10th (2017) INSIGHTS FROM THE INSIDERS PGATOUR.COM’s Insiders offer their expert views on what to expect from Brooks Koepka in 2018. TOUR INSIDER by Ben Everill It was fitting Koepka won the first U.S. Open after best friend Dustin Johnson did the same. The pair are often inseparable – comparing workout routines and methods in their quest to get better. While Koepka hasn’t reached the heights of his friend on the course, he certainly has the potential to do so. Combining brute force with an improving finesse and a killer putting game when it’s on is always going to prove tough to beat. Another poster child for the athletic golfer. Click here to follow Ben on Twitter FANTASY INSIDER by Rob Bolton Let’s face it, most golfers don’t come out of Central Casting, but he’s not just any golfer. It was already impressive and compelling that he navigated the Challenge Tour en route to his eventual position as a fixture on the PGA TOUR, but it’d have been merely a nice story without the success. Gamers knew he had a major title in him, but that he already picked off the U.S. Open as a 27-year-old transformed his teeth-cutting on the European Tour’s developmental circuit as a cute precursor. This is to say that while lifting the trophy at Erin Hills was a new experience, it looked entirely right. So would a spot atop the Official World Golf Ranking. Click here to follow Rob on Twitter EQUIPMENT INSIDER by Jonathan Wall Koepka enjoyed his best season on TOUR without an equipment contract. He continues to use TaylorMade’s 2016 M2 driver; his only Nike club that remains from his days as a Swoosh equipment staffer is a Vapor Fly Pro 3-iron featuring Fujikura’s Pro 95 Tour Spec X shaft. Mizuno JPX-900 Tour irons were designed for Koepka in the hopes of getting him to sign with the company when he became a free agent. Still plays a mixture of Vokey SM5 and SM4 TVD wedges. Scotty Cameron Tour Only T10 Select Newport 2 was in the bag going back to his days as a Titleist staffer. Remains to be seen if he’ll sign on somewhere in 2018. Click here to follow Jonathan on Twitter STYLE INSIDER by Greg Monteforte Unlike the other Nike athletes on TOUR who favor sporty looks, Koepka puts a different spin on his Nike threads by opting for many of the brand’s more classic kits. Fresh off of his 2017 U.S. Open victory, look for Koepka to join the ranks of Jason Day and Rory McIlroy as one of Nike’s front men in 2018. Click here to follow Greg on Twitter
Although Dustin Johnson delivered a message with his 11-shot victory at THE NORTHERN TRUST, the FedExCup Playoffs isn't about how you start. It's how you finish. While DJ scaled to No. 1 in the standings, all he's done is cement a preferable opening position for the TOUR Championship for which staggered scoring applies. That's not insignificant, of course, but that's how the rest of the field of 70 at this week's BMW Championship has to think of it. Olympia Fields Country Club in south suburban Chicago hosts the second leg of the Playoffs. Scroll past the extended projection of contenders for details on the course, what's at stake and more. RELATED: The First Look | One-liners for every player at Olympia Fields POWER RANKINGS: BMW CHAMPIONSHIP Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott and Patrick Reed will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday's Fantasy Insider. The second-to-last PGA TOUR event of the 2019-20 season will be contested some 25 miles south of the heart of the Second City. The North Course at Olympia Fields is almost 100 years old, but it hasn't been even a semi-regular destination in recent years. The most notable men's competitions of the 21st century include the 2003 U.S. Open and the 2015 U.S. Amateur. Four who teed it up at the major 17 years ago are in this week's field. That smattering includes Tiger Woods whose T20 bested the other three. Six qualifiers for the BMW Championship pegged it five years ago as amateurs. Bryson DeChambeau prevailed in convincing fashion throughout match play. All 10 will have mental snapshots upon arrival, but most if not all likely haven't seen the variety of modifications made in advance of this week's tournament. The par-4 seventh hole has undergone the most work what with a new tee, changes to its fairway and the addition of bunkering around its green. The par-5 15th and par-4 18th also have new tees. The finisher is among another four holes with updated fairways. The walk stretches 7,366 yards, but Olympia Fields is but a mere par 70 with two par 5s. It's the longest par 70 in a non-major since Firestone Country Club's South Course (7,400 yards) last hosted the PGA TOUR in 2018. The first hole at Olympia Fields is a par 5 measuring 626 yards. It's one of just four opening par 5s on TOUR and it's the sixth-longest of 132 par 5s all season. For the guys around the top-30 bubble to advance to the TOUR Championship, it's a given that a strong performance is required, but those who barely snuck into the field at the BMW Championship arrive with nothing to lose. A podium finish is the worst result all should be targeting. FedExCup points are tripled, but when they were quadrupled in 2016, 47-seed Ryan Palmer still couldn't survive with a five-way T4. He settled at 34th. To achieve the goal, course management will be key. Not only does the bluegrass rough rise to four inches, but the greens are unfamiliar. This benefits ball-strikers because their margins of error are expanded. Greens are average in size at 6,000 square feet, and they're prepped to top out at 12½ feet on the Stimpmeter. They'll have a decent chance of rolling out as planned, too. While it'll be warm and humid until the weekend, there's but a small possibility that rain will fall. After the threat passes through, the weekend sets up to be glorious with daytime highs in the upper 70s. Prevailing winds from the southwest shouldn't be of much concern during the first two rounds, nor should the refreshing breezes from the opposite direction on the weekend. There is no cut at the BMW Championship, so all 70 are guaranteed four rounds. That fact makes it even more difficult to make a move in the FedExCup standings. It also reinforces the benefits of survival and a season well-played. In addition to other incentives, all of the top 30 who advance will earn exemptions into the Masters, the U.S. Open, The Open Championship and the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship in 2021. ROB BOLTON'S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM's Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM's Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.
