Brooks Koepka is up to his usual tricks.
That means taking jabs at his favorite foil, Bryson DeChambeau.
“Drove the ball great. I love my driver,” Koepka said with a sly smile of his TaylorMade model one day after DeChambeau whined that his Cobra driver “sucks.”
That also means being in the thick of another major championship trophy hunt. Koepka, a four-time major winner, held the lead on Sunday at the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island in May and climbed as close as one stroke back at the U.S. Open in June before faltering down the stretch on both occasions.
On Friday, Koepka made eight birdies, including on the final three holes at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England, to shoot 4-under 66 and stay within shouting distance of the lead at the midway point of the 149th British Open. It was his 41st round in the 60s in majors since 2016, most of any player in that span.
After shooting 1-under 69 on Thursday, Koepka, 31, overcame a sluggish start to his second round. He canceled out an early birdie at the second with a bogey at the third before making a costly double bogey at the fourth, where he didn’t love his tee shot.
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“Poor decision off four tee to hit 3-wood,” said Koepka, who talked his caddie, Ricky Elliot, into the club choice. Koepka compounded the error with a mental mistake with his sand wedge.
“I didn’t talk to Ricky for a hole and a half, I was so mad,” Koepka said.
He regained his cool with a birdie at five and two more on the front side to turn in 1-under 34. He shifted into overdrive on the closing stretch, making a birdie at the par-5 14th, a bogey at 15 and then the closing birdie barrage on the final three holes.
Koepka showed little ill effect from not touching a club in the previous two weeks since he competed at the Travelers Championship. That unusual approach leading into a major could be unsettling for Koepka, but he said it works well for him and who can complain with his performance?
“I’ve honed it for 20 years and it’s pretty much the same,” Koepka said of his swing. “Getting away and mentally re-charging is the key.”
Koepka improved to 5-under 135 and trails Louis Oosthuizen (thru 13 holes) by seven strokes and Collin Morikawa by four strokes.
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