Monday Finish: Fitting start to season for Brooks Koepka

Brooks Koepka appears to open the door with a lackluster front nine, then slams it shut with a 29 on the back for a final-round 64 and a four-shot victory over Gary Woodland (63) at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Koepka, fresh off being named Player of the Year last season, began the new season in fitting fashion with his fifth PGA TOUR victory, this one propelling him to the No. 1 world ranking. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Koepka uses all 18 holes. Jack Nicklaus, who surprised Koepka with his Player of the Year trophy recently, was a master at biding his time and trusting that even if he didn’t start well, the birdies would come. Koepka took a page from that book in winning THE CJ CUP, where he bogeyed two of the first four holes and was caught at the turn by a surging Woodland (6-under 30 on the front nine). Koepka’s response, a blazing, 7-under 29 on the back, left no unanswered questions. “I’m not somebody that’s going to panic if things go the wrong way, pretty sure everybody can tell that,â€� Koepka said after hitting the after-burners to win. “I just kind of hang in there, wait for my holes, I know I’m going to have some good looks and when I do, you’ve got to capitalize on them.â€� 2. It was hard to find fault with Woodland’s 11 birdies in the final round. His first round, though, was a 1-over 73 that immediately set him on his heels. Right away, Woodland was five off the lead (Chez Reavie) and two behind eventual winner Koepka. “Thursday was so tough,â€� said Woodland, whose most recent victory came at last season’s Waste Management Phoenix Open. “But the last couple days I really had it going.â€� This wasn’t the first time Koepka and Woodland have clashed. They were paired together in the third round of the PGA Championship at Bellerive, with Koepka (66, on the way to his second W last season) getting the better of Woodland (71, T6) then, as well. “Brooks with the lead, not much fazes him,â€� Woodland said, “so you knew you had to make a lot of birdies and I made lot today, but I was just too far behind.â€� 3. The first round was all about survival. Players were caught off guard by the cold weather, with Scott Piercy (a lined hat, with ear flaps) among those who scrambled to buy warmer gear. How hard was it? There were no bogey-free rounds Thursday, but 21 the rest of the way. The first-round stroke average of 73.269 was by far the highest of the week, and in fact the course got easier each day, with the field average down to 69.410 by Sunday’s final round. 4. Ryan Palmer won’t soon forget the final round for many reasons, one of them personal. The Texan birdied his final seven holes for a tournament-record 62, and did not make a bogey, but he played with a heavy heart. Palmer wore a late friend’s initials on his cap, and tapped his chest and pointed to the sky after making his final birdie of the day on 18. “Yeah, we lost a good friend of ours,â€� Palmer said. “A lifelong friend, Dan Callahan, passed away earlier this week, fight with cancer he’s been fighting the last year and a half or so. Then the last couple weeks we knew he was going down that road and he went into hospice about a week ago and it was Monday or Tuesday we found out he passed. “His funeral’s Friday back in Florida,â€� Palmer continued, “and they’re going to have something back in Amarillo where we all grew up here in a couple weeks, I think. That’s the DC that you see on my hat. Yeah, he’s going to be missed.â€� 5. Only one player took home the trophy, but several players walked away from Nine Bridges whistling a happy tune. The 568-yard, par-5 18th hole gave up final-round eagles to Koepka, Chez Reavie, Cam Smith, Adam Scott, Keith Mitchel, Danny Willett, Kevin Chappell, Brice Garnett, Brian Stuard, Brian Gay, Hyungjoon Lee. The finisher gave up 11 eagles total, compared to just five on the rest of the course combined, and was so easy that Palmer said he’d like to have a do-over after merely making a birdie. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Koepka’s victory marked the second consecutive year in which the reigning PGA TOUR Player of the Year won THE CJ CUP. Justin Thomas won last year. Koepka was T42 in fairways hit (73.2 percent), T23 in Greens in Regulation (77.8 percent), and T5 in Putts (1.60). 2. In moving to 3rd in the FedExCup and No. 1 in the world, Koepka proved not only one of the hottest players on TOUR (he’s won three times in his last 11 starts) but also one of the most well-traveled. He now has 12 professional victories in seven different countries. 3. Koepka and runner-up Woodland each made two bogeys, but struggled or flat-lined in different places on the course. The result: Their best-ball score Sunday was 14-under 58. 4. Ryan Palmer’s seven straight birdies from holes 12-18 made him the 18th different player to post seven straight birdies on TOUR since the start of 2012. The last player to make eight straight was Chris Stroud in the second round of the 2011 OHL Classic at Mayakoba. Two players, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Lanto Griffin, made seven straight last season.  5. Kevin Tway (T52) gave up FedExCup pole position to Marc Leishman (66, T18). Justin Rose, the newly-minted FedExCup champion, did not play but starts his TOUR season this week at the World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions, where he won a year ago.

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