Chase Koepka bests brother Brooks in opening round in Las Vegas: 'He'll hear it over dinner'
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - OCTOBER 03: Chase Koepka walks on the eighth green during the first round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin on October 3, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS – The name Koepka jumped up on the leaderboard late Thursday at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, but it wasn’t the world No. 1.
Chase Koepka, younger brother of seven-time PGA TOUR winner Brooks, outshined his more-storied sibling at TPC Summerlin.
Playing on a sponsor exemption, Chase fired a bogey-free, 5-under 66 to sit inside the top 10 after the opening round. It bested Brooks by four shots.
It was just his fourth PGA TOUR start – two of which were as his brother's partner at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. In his only other individual event, the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship, he missed the cut.
Chase recently returned from Europe where he competed on both the Challenge Tour and in the first stage of Q-School for the European Tour. Brooks famously cut his teeth in Europe when he was younger.
“I was a bit homesick being over there,” 25-year-old Chase admitted.
“I took some time to kind of regroup and figure some things out for myself, get a little happier. Definitely showed today on the golf course. Had some fun out there and it was nice to see that result.”
Chase said being away from his family had proven a little tougher than he anticipated, but spending time with them recently had lifted his spirits.
With everyone in town to watch both brothers, the younger sibling was certainly looking forward to Thursday night dinner, where he admitted he would be reminding Brooks of their first-round scorecards.
“I do have to needle him every now and then when I do get a chance to nip him on a day like today. I'm sure he'll hear it over dinner,” Chase laughed.
“It's nice. But, you know, he's so good. He's so good. (Laughter.)”
With no status to speak of, the next three days could be very important for Chase. A win would change his life and put him on the PGA TOUR permanently. A top-10 would bring another start at the Houston Open next week – which would bring an interesting dilemma.
He is currently set to attend First Stage of Q-School for the Korn Ferry Tour in Utah next week.
“The plan is to try and play well in that and get to final stage and get my card through that,” he said.