[jwplayer 95tUs7b3-9JtFt04J]
ORLANDO – Brooks Koepka caught the tail end of the Bobby Bowden era during his college tenure at Florida State University and departed in 2012 with the Seminoles on the verge of winning a national championship in 2013 and a flashback to its glory days. But the last few years have been lean and some might say comparable to the drought that Koepka has suffered since undergoing a stem-cell procedure on his left knee late last season. When asked what he thought of his alma mater hiring Mike Norvell to resurrect the program, Koepka let it be known who is closer to returning to the mountaintop.
“They got a longer way to go than I do,” he said. “They have got a few years. Hopefully mine doesn’t take that long.”
Indeed, Koepka, who has slipped to World No. 3, still has some work to do if he’s going to chase down Rory McIlroy this week after signing for an even-par 72 in the opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Lodge & Club, which left him six strokes behind the World No. 1.
“Nothing to get excited about. Nothing to rave about. It’s not far off, but it’s still, it’s annoying,” Koepka said.
Koepka started his round on the back nine and endured a rollercoaster opening side. After a string of pars rounds to start his day, he took three putts at the par-3 14th and made bogey, but bounced back with back-to-back birdies, including a 37-foot birdie putt at 15. After the round, he’d forgotten about the long-range putt, but the 3-putt continued to gnaw on his mind.
“It’s just shots where I know if I’m in rhythm, it’s not, it’s going to be tight,” he said. “Still not, just not capitalizing on anything.”
Koepka swapped a bogey at 17 and a birdie at 18 to make the turn at 1 under.
On the front nine, he wedged to a foot at the par-5, 4th hole for a tap-in birdie and was skating along at 2 under until a couple of wayward drives – to the left on No. 8 and to the right at No. 9 – led to back-to-back bogeys.
It sent Koepka immediately to the practice tee with one of his coaches, Pete Cowen, to work on his full-swing mechanics.
“The last couple holes just kind of got away from me, but it shouldn’t be too long,” he said of his range session. “Like I said, it’s close. It’s not far away. But it has nothing to do with out here. I can hit it great out here. It’s about when the gun goes off… I’m still trying my ass off. I can promise you that.”
Koepka tees off his second round with Adam Scott and Jason Day Friday at 12:44 p.m. ET from the first tee.
[opinary poll=”whos-your-pick-to-win-the-arnold-palmer–wDlytG” customer=”golfweek”]
[lawrence-related id=778029821,778028802,778028426,778028318]