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Brooks Koepka knows how to seize an opportunity.
Whether it’s propelling himself into contention to win another major championship – as he did in today’s second round of The Open – or taking a shot at arch-nemesis Bryson DeChambeau, he almost always delivers.
We’ll get to the golf in a moment. First, the pantomime.
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Speaking to the Golf Channel after his Friday round at Royal St George’s, four-time major champion Koepka was full of praise for one particular club in his bag.
“Drove the ball great – love my driver,” said the 28-year-old, a hint of a smile forming at the corners of his mouth.
Here’s the clip…
What do ya know...Brooks Koepka LOVES his driver! pic.twitter.com/GLG8q9RGoT
— Matt Koll (@MKoll15) July 16, 2021
Make no mistake, this was no commercially-savvy act of sponsor brown-nosing on Brooks’ behalf.
Rather it was a deliberate dig at DeChambeau who caused a stramash on day one of the championship when he blasted that his driver “sucks”. It was a comment that prompted one of the senior figures at equipment sponsor Cobra to compare him to a petulant eight-year-old. DeChambeau quickly apologised.
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Koepka, you might remember, made a similar sly dig on Twitter two weeks ago, when he tweeted praise for his caddie Ricky Elliott just hours after DeChambeau parted ways with his long-time looper Tim Tucker.
But enough of the psychodrama.
In the main event, Koepka has positioned himself for a weekend charge up the leaderboard as he goes in search of major win number five.
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He closed with three birdies on the spin – and four in his final five holes – to card a four-under 66 and reach five-under for the championship. That leaves him just five shots off the pace currently being set by 2010 champion Louis Oosthuizen.
Victory this week would move Koepka to within a Masters victory of completing the career grand slam.
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