– You already know that The Concession opens this week. Many, most of the 72 players who are playing the WGC Workday Championship, had not set foot in his life on this tour of Florida that pays homage to a unique event in the history of the Ryder Cup. Logic dictates that the novelty of the scenario requires deeper and more precise preparation work. It is not the same to play in the field where you train every day than to do it in one that you see for the first time. From drawer. You have to study the lines from the tee, the distances, the obstacles, the dangers around the green, where you can fail, where you shouldn’t go in life… In short, extract all the information possible to design the most appropriate strategy. Sergio Garcia Y Rory McIlroy, for example, they have said that around the green there are many complications, many tricks, you have to know it and that the more you play, the better. Come on, the normal unless you call Brooks Koepka…
Sergio and Jon look without complexes and in the face of the curse
Koepka bets more on the way of uncomplicated golf. Came to Bradenton, south of Tampa, on Tuesday night, played nine holes on Wednesday, the nine of the ProAm, and went out to play his first round on Thursday. Card of 67 shots with six birdies and a solitary bogey. I had never been to The Concession before. So that? «My caddy walked the entire field, we have the yardage book. It’s not very hard. It is what it is. You get to the 10th tee, there is water to the right, a bunker to the left, you know, you have to put it on the fairway. There is not much more, ”he assured yesterday at the end of the lap.
Koepka is a player who prefers to have the right information. “I don’t like to overthink things. I prefer to keep it simple. Is it 300 yards to that bunker? Ok, give me the 3 wood. It’s about making golf as simple as possible. Wherever there is confusion, it pisses me off. I try to simplify things. I get to the ball, I listen to the numbers, I pick up the stick and I hit it… That’s it.”
Sergio García: «It is a course with a lot of tricks around the greens»
It is Koepka’s uncomplicated golf. He sees it so easy that he does not hesitate to assure after playing only a quarter of the tournament that «I hope to be fighting for victory on Sunday. I love the new irons I’m playing, I hit the ball higher, I’m playing well and I feel very comfortable on these greens, I don’t know if it’s because of the Bermuda grass or because of a couple of adjustments I’ve made. Yes, one reads it and listens to it and it sounds like plenty, but since it’s not the first time, we better not lose sight of it…
– Contrary to Koepka, Rory McIlroy (-3) spent ten hours on Wednesday at The Concession. Most of the time he was on the practice field. I needed to find a good feeling after missing the cut on the Genesis and it looks like I did. “I have felt much better from tee to green. I think I’ve played very well, I’ve barely missed shots, I’m comfortable. I have also kicked very well. Comfortable. I have failed some that I would have liked to put, obviously, but they have been reading errors, not touch, “he says. It seems that McIlroy has opted for the constant confidence booster to overcome that little putting crisis that has been dragging on for weeks. The three short putts that escaped him yesterday prevented him from being in the lead. Maybe it’s better not to punish yourself…
Tiger Woods has been transferred from hospital in Los Angeles
– By the way, McIlroy could become the second player in history to win the WGC Grand Slam. The only one that has the four that are played every year is Dustin Johnson.
– Daniel Berger yesterday broke a very good streak of 26 consecutive rounds at par or under par. He also did it in a very painful way, missing a putt of just one meter on his last hole. The current best streak now is Xander Schauffele with 19.
Jon Rahm: “It’s a constant strategic battle in every shot”
– The Americans are a little crazy about Florida… And no, it has nothing to do with a geopolitical issue or with the recent presidential elections in the United States, we are talking about golf. The last win by an American player in this state was Keith Mitchell at Honda Classic 2019. Not that it’s been forever, but two years on the PGA Tour in Florida isn’t bad at all. In fact, it’s been five international wins in a row: Hatton, Im, Casey, McIlroy and Molinari.
Dustin Johnson hit and (nearly) sunk at WGC Workday
– Koepka or Sergio are some of the players who are looking for their second victory this season on the PGA Tour. It is curious and strange that at this point no one has taken advantage of his good form to win more than once. As rare as that many tournaments have never gone by without a double champion since 1994. We’ll see if this week he breaks the streak.
– The second day will begin at 4:58 p.m., Spanish peninsular time. Sergio García leaves at 5:20 p.m., Jon Rahm will leave at 5:42 p.m. and Rafa Cabrera Bello at 6:15 p.m.
