This time a year ago, Brooks Koepka missed the cut, walked into the parking lot at Augusta National and got into a violent altercation with his own car. From a happier spot, he shared the story on Friday afternoon.
“I shouldn’t be saying this, but I tried to smash the rear window,” he told us. ‘Not once, but twice. The first time didn’t work, so I thought I’d try again.’
Turns out he couldn’t break a 75 with his clubs and he couldn’t break glass with his fists. But it seems quite a lot can change in 12 months.
Today he plays on the LIV tour. Today his head and body are in much better condition. Today, one of the sport’s fallen stars has made it to the top of the standings at the Masters, quickly living up to the worst nightmare scenario for golf’s staunchest traditionalists in civil war.
It will not escape anyone’s attention that on a day when we saw the surprising fall of LIV’s biggest critic, Rory McIlroy, we also witnessed the final stages of Koepka’s resurrection. His 67, added to an opening 65, was outstanding. No bogey to be seen.
Brooks Koepka shot into the solo lead at The Masters, going 12-under through 36 holes
With a flawless 67 on Friday, Koepka carded three birdies and an eagle to get ahead
It’s been a winning few days for the star who won his second LIV title in Orlando last week
When he wobbled on the front nine with loose approaches, he saved himself with a series of clutch putts. When he had opportunities to progress, he took them with five strokes out of four par fives.
He was solid in all areas of his game, and as we’ve seen ever so often, Koepka is more dangerous than anyone else when he’s confident.
He’ll catch an awful lot, especially after the storms hit later in the day and the workload intensified for some of the key names in the chase.
Of those who completed their second round, only the brilliant American amateur Sam Bennett came close to Koepka’s 12 under total, and even then he was four back after another 68.
Collin Morikawa was a few further adrift on a second 69, while Jason Day dropped to five over after dropping four strokes in the last four holes of a 72.
Still on course when the horns sounded, the biggest threat was, of course, Jon Rahm.
He had been co-leader at Seven Under with Koepka and Viktor Hovland overnight, but with the Norwegian dropping a shot through 10 holes in the trickier afternoon conditions, Rahm had just started motorcycling when the game started just after 4 p.m. local was shut down.
With birdies on eight and the ninth, the Spaniard was nine down on the turn, but making up three strokes on the back? In bad weather and with 27 holes left to play on Saturday? Advantage Koepka.
And with that, our thoughts can wander to the prospect of a LIV winner.
No doubt there will be television executives raving about the madness of it all. And equally predictably, there would be a significant amount of giggles as the LIV group, all 18, stand true to their word and storm the 18th green if one of them prevails.
We could argue about how savory that is or isn’t, but there’s no questioning how valuable a win would be to the breakaway tour when their relevance and impact are seriously on the slide.
That win seems increasingly possible, though it was somewhat ironic that in the glow of a good day, the 32-year-old spoke terms that played on the idea of LIV as a lucrative haven for the faded.
Koepka has now carded just one birdie for his first two rounds at the Masters this week
But Jon Rahm is in hot pursuit of the American, four shots behind him through nine on Friday
Remarkably, amateur golfer Sam Bennet leads to third place on the leaderboard in Augusta
That’s because of an answer he gave when asked if his decision to switch would have been more difficult if his game had been the way it is now.
“Probably, if I’m honest,” he said. “I think it would have been. But I’m happy with the decision I made.’
The latter part goes against strong whispers that he has privately expressed his buyer’s remorse, which is probably rooted in the realization that he can still compete at the highest level.
To see him in the Full Swing series, where he had the ring of a lost soul, was to see a man who may have felt as if he was caught right after he seemed so invincible in winning four majors between 2017 and 2019. To observe his play at Augusta, after winning a LIV event last weekend, is to see a completely different person.
“I’ve come a long way,” he said.
Koepka’s map gave him cause for satisfaction. The highlight was an eagle on the par-five eighth, but perhaps his best work came with five-hole putts in the crucial six-foot range in the first six holes.
After riding out that stretch, he saw the front nine in 33 and took two more strokes on the way in.
If there’s a sticky note to the Koepka story, it’s the smell of a possible first-round rule violation on Thursday, when he and his caddy, Ricky Elliott, were accused by some television viewers of giving club advice to his playing partner Gary. Forest on the 15th hole.
Tournament officials ruled in Koepka’s favor after consulting footage, but the incident, which would have violated rules for giving and receiving on-court advice, has raised eyebrows.
If it influenced Koepka, it is not clear in any way.
Rory McIlroy’s hopes of claiming another green jacket were dashed for another year
Koepka, meanwhile, has his eyes firmly set on winning a career grand slam and cementing his name in the history books
“The whole goal is to win the grand slam, right?” said the American, who has already won the US Open and the PGA Championship a few times.
“I feel like all the greats have won here and they’ve all won British Opens too. It’s another box I can tick to really feel like I’ve done what I should have achieved in this game.”
Of course, the mention of the grand slam brings to mind McIlroy. This was marked as his year and what a mess it has become, with Northern Ireland in 77 for five left.
The stoppage of play meant that the formality of a missed cut was not immediately ratified, but with the expected tally at two left, McIlroy was a mile from where he needed to be. He was a lot further adrift from the Rebel with a controversial tour and a new goal.