Brooks Koepka closes in on fourth LIV Golf title with clean round at Sentosa

Brooks Koepka looks to be warming up nicely for his title defence at the PGA Championship in Kentucky two weeks from now, opening a three-stroke lead over the field after Moving Day at LIV Golf Singapore on Saturday. It will be the third time in the last 18 tournaments that he takes that cushion into Championship Sunday, built on a brilliant 7-under 64 in the rain-delayed second round.

Even with a massive downpour putting back the start of play by close to five hours hours, scores stayed low and as many as six players including Koepka carded bogey-free rounds on Saturday, the others being Bryson DeChambeau (66), Adrian Meronk (66), Marc Leishman (67), Harold Varner III (67), and Richard Bland (68).

Twice previously, Koepka has converted three-stroke leads into titles, at Orlando and Jeddah last year. And if he does come through on Sunday, he will become the first on the LIV Golf roster to record four individual wins, though the pack will not let him get away easily at the Sentosa Golf Club as Smash GC team-mate Talor Gooch noted. 

“it’s going to be hard,” the defending champion said. “Winning golf tournaments is never easy. We all know that. Hopefully, we can make it not easy on him. Hopefully, I can make it not easy on him tomorrow.”

Koepka, a five-time major winner, is 12 under at Singapore with Fireballs GC’s Abraham Ancer, Cleeks GC’s Adrian Meronk, and RangeGoats Thomas Pieters and Matthew Wolff tied for second on 9 under par 132. Four other players are on 133 – Gooch, Ripper GC’s Lucas Herbert and Marc Leishman, and HyFlyers GC’s Cameron Tringale.

Although he’s playing with confidence, Koepka is not taking anything for granted. “Anything is possible,” he noted. “Gooch is trailing. He plays this place pretty well. I've just got to go out and do what I do, and from there, you can get beat. I have no problem with that if I get beat. But I just want to go out and play good golf, and that's all I want to do, especially leading into the PGA.”

Koepka made a steady start on Saturday with three pars and birdied the fourth to kick off a run that saw him pick up two more strokes before the turn. A further four birdies in his last seven holes saw the lead swell to three, throwing down the gauntlet for those in his rear-view mirror. 

“He's comfortable being in the lead,” said former Smash team member Matthew Wolff. “He's playing good. I think this golf course actually suits him really well. I'll do what I can control, and other than that, just see what happens.”

Day two scores

1. Smash GC -23 (Koepka 64, Gooch 66, Kokrak 71)
2. Ripper GC -22 (Smith 65, Herbert 67, Leishman 67)
3. RangeGoats GC -21 (Wolff 65, Pieters 67, Uihlein 70)
T4. Cleeks GC -20 (Meronk 66, Bland 68, Kaymer 69)
T4. Fireballs GC -20 (Ancer 67, Garcia 68, Chacarra 69; Rd. 2 score -9)
6. Legion XIII -17 (Hatton 68, Rahm 68, Vincent 68)
7. Stinger GC -14 (Oosthuizen 69, Burmester 70, Schwartzel 70)
T8. Crushers GC -13 (DeChambeau 66, Howell III 66, Lahiri 69)
T8. HyFlyers GC -13 (Mickelson 68, Tringale 68, Ogletree 71)
T8. Torque GC -13 (Niemann 69, Muñoz 70, Pereira 70)
11. 4Aces GC -12 (Varner III 67, Reed 68, Johnson 70)
12. Iron Heads GC -10 (Vincent 66, Na 70, Kozuma 72)
13. Majesticks GC -7 (Poulter 68, Stenson 68, Westwood 71)