DP World Tour clears path for LIV players’ return, family joy in Oban, Fox’s errors and Fleetwood’s new look. The Back Nine.
Brooks Koepka has completed his first week back on the PGA Tour with dignity. Finishing T56 at Justin Rose’s victory at the Farmers Insurance Open was not a masterpiece, but this time the journey was the goal. Starting with a one-over-par 73, he made the cut with a 68 in round two and closed the weekend at Torrey Pines with 73 and 70. Mission accomplished. Already on Friday, after making the weekend cut, the five-time major winner said he had fallen in love with the game again. That was what he missed at LIV: the competition, the tough fight. Fighting for a three-meter putt even though he was 20 strokes behind the lead. Every shot counts, especially when a hundred or more players share the same goal.
Elsewhere, critics are still sharpening their knives over Koepka’s comeback, which some see as too easy or smooth, including Wyndham Clark. In an unusual lengthy statement to Golf Digest Japan before the Farmers, Hideki Matsuyama expressed notable frustration. Considering his normally polite reserve, one could say the 2021 Masters champion is furious.