PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — The 2019 PGA Championship was pretty much over after the opening round, when Brooks Koepka shot a course-record 63 and began his domination of Bethpage Black.
Koepka was so good on Long Island, there weren’t any tense moments until the final holes on the back nine Sunday, when his lead dwindled to one stroke. The 119th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach won’t be as leisurely. Not by a long shot.
Koepka wasn’t the machine he was at Bethpage. After a 2-under 69 on Thursday, he certainly remains in contention to become the first three-peat U.S. Open winner in 114 years. But his performance showed the kind of vulnerability that has to make the rest of the field breathe a sigh of relief heading into the Friday’s second round.
“I didn’t find the fairways,” Koepka said. “If you miss fairways, it’s going to be tough. If you miss greens, too, on top of that, it’s going to be tough. Some of my up-and-downs were pretty solid. If I had gotten to 3-under, I would have been happy with today.”
Pebble Beach was certainly there was for taking. Conditions were perfect, even in the afternoon after Rickie Fowler was first to post a 5-under 66 in the morning group. The fairways were plush, the greens were perfect and the absence of wind left little defense for the 7,075-yard layout.
Koepka, winner of four majors in less than three years, was asked earlier this week if his name atop the leaderboard was beginning to be as intimidating as seeing Tiger Woods get off to fast lead in a major back in his prime.
“I think that’s something you’d probably have to ask the other guys,” he said, before adding, “I think if I was one of those guys and I saw my name on the leaderboard in a major championship, I’d think, ‘Really? Not again.’ ”
That’s probably what they were thinking after the start Koepka got off to Thursday. Koepka feasted on the conditions early and looked like he might treat Pebble Beach the same way he did Bethpage in the opening round.
He made birdie on four of his first six holes, including a chip in from just off the green at the par-3 fifth. At 4-under, he was already chasing down Fowler, the morning leader.
“I felt very comfortable right out of the gate,” Koepka said. “I struck it nicely and it was good to roll in a putt [for birdie] on the first one.”
But Koepka didn’t play as well after that. He took bogey at the difficult par-4 eighth hole when his approach landed deep in the green-side rough and he couldn’t get up and down from there. After a birdie at the par-3 12th, he took another bogey at the par-4 13th after his drive landed in a fairway bunker.
He made a 15-footer to save par at the 16th, but then hit his tee shot into the back bunker and took bogey at the par-3 17th. It looked like Koepka would finish with a birdie despite hitting his tee shot onto the cart path at the 18th. But his 3-footer for birdie was hit tentatively and curled short, leaving Koepka with his 2-under 69. He wasn’t totally discouraged with his round.
“I was happy with how I came out of the gates,” he said. “It was important to give yourself a chance. You can shoot yourself out of it today. I didn’t do that. I’ll be back and see how it goes tomorrow.”
Koepka finds himself four shots off the lead after Justin Rose fired a 6-under 65 to match the same opening round Woods had in his recording performance here in 2000. Unlike Bethpage Black, the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach is shaping up to be a tight tournament from start to finish.
