Brooks Koepka, no. 1 player in the world, was not even the no. 1 player in his family this week. Little brother Chase was the only Koepka to make the cut in Vegas at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
Chase Koepka opened with a strong 66 at TPC Summerlin Thursday to take the lead over big brother Brooks, following that up with a 69 on Day 2, easily making the cut at seven under. Meanwhile, Brooks was struggling to get going.
Playing in his first event of the new season, and after a 5-week break and stem cell therapy on his knee, Brooks made five birdies during his first round, but offset those with an alarming four bogeys. Brooks then made just three birdies during his second round and missed the cut by four.
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Now, Brother Brooks missing a cut at a Tour event isn’t the most surprising result. He has earned most of his top ranking from majors, while not performing as well in non-major weeks. So for now, the Koepka story turns to brother Chase.
“He’s kicked my a– the last two days,” Brooks said. “Props to him. I was glued to the leaderboard trying to follow the last couple — the first couple holes of my front nine, trying to see where he was going to finish, what I was at. I was living and dying by it yesterday. I even had The Golf Channel on trying to see if maybe he would get a couple glimpses on there.”
Brooks went on to say a Koepka win this weekend would be a highlight of his year. It would be quite the story, that’s for sure. Chase earned his way into the field as a sponsor’s exemption and a victory would immediately get him a Tour card and invite to the Masters. He’s still 36 holes away and chasing many players, but is it fair to doubt any Koepka on the golf course?
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