si woo kim has nothing to do with the scoring at TPC Craig Ranch, but Brooks Koepka did exactly what he needed Thursday morning: he opened THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson with an 8-under 63 after changing to a Scotty Cameron Fastback 1.5. It was his lowest round of the season and it put him out front after the early wave finished.
Koepka at TPC Craig Ranch
Koepka’s round was built on clean putting and patient scoring. He rolled in a 17-foot birdie putt on the 11th hole, then followed with a 13-foot eagle putt on the 12th, and finished with six birdies, one eagle and no bogeys.
He needed just 25 putts over 18 holes. After the round, he said, “Finally, I felt good with the putter.” The comment matched the scorecard: four putts outside 10 feet found the cup, and the bogey-free round was his sharpest putting day of the season.
Koepka’s putter shuffle
The Fastback 1.5 was Koepka’s fourth different putter this season. He began the year with a Scotty Cameron blade putter, then moved to a TaylorMade mallet model after his first week back on TOUR for the WM Phoenix Open. At the PGA Championship last week, he changed again to a different version of the TaylorMade mallet and finished T55.
That week-to-week movement matters because Koepka entered Thursday ranked 141st in putting. His ball-striking had been good enough to keep him around scoring chances, but he had not turned that edge into a low round until this one.
Rick’s view and Koepka’s response
Koepka said he tested several putters in his home studio on Tuesday and heard the same thing from Rick after watching him: “Rick said the same thing from watching.” He added, “Which also kind of helps build a little confidence, what you feel versus the reality of it.”
There was still a grind inside the round. On his last hole, Koepka said, “It just kind of saved the round,” after converting a par save. He then summed up the day in one line: “Bogey-free is always a big confidence booster.”
The score puts Koepka in position to build on a round that finally matched the rest of his game. After a T55 finish at the PGA Championship and a season spent cycling through putters, Thursday gave him a cleaner answer on the greens and the kind of start that can carry a contender deeper into the week.
