SINGAPORE – Five-time Major champion Brooks Koepka knows what it takes to win.
And he will do whatever it takes to keep winning, even if it means shunning a big birthday bash on May 3, when he turned 34 on the first day of the LIV Golf Singapore event.
Koepka was joint-second alongside five others after opening the tournament with a five-under 66, but stressed that his birthday would be a low-key affair with two more rounds to go at Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong Course.
Apart from having dinner with his team and wife Jena Sims, the focus is on golf and staying in competition mode. There is more at stake as the Singapore tournament is a tune-up for his PGA Championship title defence from May 16-19.
The American said: “I don’t drink during tournament weeks, so I’m not going to do anything, especially with the PGA coming up. I’m dry, so I won’t be doing anything.
“Just like I said, it’s going to be golf, work out – I’m very boring in the weeks that I play.”
The nine-time PGA Tour winner got off to a fine start at Sentosa, firing four birdies in his first seven holes.
While he three-putted for a bogey on the par-four 16th hole, Koepka quickly bounced back with a birdie on No. 18, placing him a stroke behind leader Sebastian Munoz.
While the former world No. 1 has had mixed results since becoming the first LIV golfer to win a Major at the 2023 PGA Championship, he wants to add to his three titles in the breakaway series.
He said: “You never know what’s going to come tomorrow. Playing good, just need to keep ball-striking it well. It’s kind of the last preparation I’m going to get for the PGA, so just trying to make sure everything is in order.”
He will be keeping his eye on Colombia’s Munoz, who is determined to sustain a charge for the LIV Singapore title after learning from his near-miss experiences at previous tournaments.
At LIV Chicago in September 2023, the 31-year-old looked poised to end a title drought since 2019 as he entered the final round of the event with a three-stroke lead, but he fell short after posting a two-over 73 in the final round.
He narrowly missed out on the men’s golf gold at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, claiming silver after coming in a stroke behind Mexican and fellow LIV golfer Abraham Ancer.
These experiences have taught him to deal with such situations better. He said: “It’s a tough thing (to be in the lead), and it’s a stacked field. The way that LIV Golf works, it’s just kind of go low all the time.
“Sometimes it’s a little stressful. I agree I haven’t performed my best, but I’ve learnt last season... I just haven’t been able to put it into work because I haven’t been in the final group, but now we get to try it again.”
After a strong start in Singapore with seven birdies and a bogey in the first round, Munoz knows the hunt for his maiden LIV title will not be easy given the stiff competition. He said: “It was a good, solid round. I gave myself plenty of birdie chances, hit it pretty close, made the putts. There were just a couple of short misses, but I’m really happy where the game is right now.
“There are good, capable players behind me and they’re going to shoot pretty low. I’m just going to keep shooting at the pins, trying to make the putts and hang on.”
