The worst at No. 17? Brooks Koepka goes double-triple on the island hole on Saturday
All Brooks Koepka could do was laugh. When your nemesis gets you again, you just resign yourself to defeat.
A few weeks ago, Koepka was talking about his futility on the par-3 17th at TPC Sawgrass: “I’ll be honest with you, I’ve played that hole – if they throw that stat up, who’s played it the worst over the last five years, it’s probably me,” he said at the Honda Classic.
Koepka wasn’t being self-effacing. In five previous starts at The Players Championship, Koepka had played the island hole in 15 over par.
Full-field scores from The Players Championship
On Saturday, after three days of delays, he finally got a chance to meet the menace – and did so right off the start, his first full hole upon the resumption of Round 1. And as he had done seven times before, Koepka hit his tee shot into the water. Double bogey.
After finally wrapping up the first round, Koepka’s threesome immediately returned to the par-4 10th to begin Round 2. So, about 3 ½ hours after playing the 17th, he was back – and it got worse.
Koepka again hit his tee shot into the water, well short of the green – his ninth career water ball at No. 17. With no cap on because of the 25-30-mph winds, Koepka tilted back his blonde-haired head and laughed.
This time, Koepka made triple bogey, dropping his career mark on the 17th hole to 20 over par.
The good news: at 7 over par for the tournament, Koepka was well on his way to a missed cut and likely won’t have to face that watery, little beast until next year.