Brooks Koepka 'pretty pleased' after Round 1 at the U.S. Open

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Brooks Koepka’s first tee shot at the 2019 U.S. Open rolled into a divot. It didn’t matter. Koepka has been unstoppable in this event. An imperfect lie wasn’t going to stop him.

He birdied the hole, then added three more in the next five holes, including a chip-in, to quickly put his name on another leaderboard in a major championship.

Koepka couldn’t keep up the pace after exiting Pebble Beach’s easy opening stretch, though. He struggled with his ball-striking and made three bogeys and just a single birdie the rest of the way. His 2-under 69 leaves him just four shots off Justin Rose’s lead, however.

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Koepka hit half his fairways Thursday and 12 of 18 greens.

“It's a battle if you're not going to hit fairways. If you're not going to hit greens, it's going to be tough,” said Koepka, who’s seeking a third consecutive U.S. Open title. “I'm actually quite pleased. I don't know how many fairways I hit from 8 on in. I didn't hit many.”

He was scheduled to start his second round at 8:02 a.m. Friday, some 13 hours after he signed his scorecard.

“Considering how I hit it coming in, I'm pretty pleased,” Koepka said. “I didn't shoot myself out of it. I'm right there. I feel like if I get off to a good start tomorrow, I'm right back into it.”

Koepka is third in the FedExCup thanks to wins at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES and PGA Championship. Last month’s win at Bethpage Black was his fourth major championship.