It was a rough opening day of the LIV Golf Houston event for Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC, which fell 11 strokes off the lead after the first day of play at the Golf Club of Houston, but there was an interesting exchange after the five-time major champ dunked one in the water on the par-5 fourth hole.
Koepka wasn’t sure where the ball had crossed and gone into the water, so he needed to confer with a playing partner, who happened to be Patrick Reed.
Of course, Reed has been no stranger to rules incidents. He was the center of attention for one at the Farmers Insurance Open, which followed a two-stroke penalty at the 2019 Hero World Challenge.
And at the 2018 Arnold Palmer Invitational, Reed got into a disagreement with an official over not being allowed a free drop, which led to a bit of a contentious situation. At one point, Reed blurted out, “I guess my name needs to be Jordan Spieth, guys.”
On Friday, however, Koepka and Reed finally agreed on a spot for the Florida State product to drop and after the ball rolled back into the hazard twice, he finally placed it on the edge of the bank.
A closer look at Brooks Koepka's drop on the 4th. #LIVGolf @SmashGC pic.twitter.com/gpaNMoY60Z
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) June 7, 2024
Koepka made bogey and finished the opening round at 2 under, five strokes behind leaders Calen Surratt, Martin Kaymer and Adrian Meronk.
The second round begins on Saturday at 1:15 p.m.