PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Brooks Koepka is one of 17 first-timers competing in the Players Championship this week, and with an opening 6-over 78 on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass, he looked the part.
Koepka, 25, made bogey on his first hole, the par-4 10th, and he would find himself swimming upstream the rest of the round. He struggled with two quadruple bogeys, two bogeys and a double bogey, only partially offset by six birdies, for his worst score on the PGA Tour since a second-round 80 in the 2013 Open Championship at Muirfield.
“I made bad swings,” Koepka said as he walked to the practice tee after his round.