NOTEBOOK: Koepka Finds Game Again, Reed Makes Open History

OAKMONT, Pa. — Missing two consecutive missed cuts is rather unheard of for someone who has made his professional career on winning in golf’s biggest stages, but that was exactly where Brooks Koepka was entering the U.S. Open.

“I would say from the first weekend in April until about last week, you didn’t want to be around me,” he offered after a first-round 68 at Oakmont, putting him two off J.J. Spaun’s lead.

“It drove me nuts. It ate at me. I haven’t been happy. It’s been very irritating. I mean, I had to apologize … to everybody. I wouldn’t have wanted to be around me.”

At the PGA Championship, Koepka admitted that he did not feel good about his game going in and also got heckled by a fan to boot. Coming into the Masters, Koepka felt better, but his putter let him down.

Thursday’s first round was more of a return to form, with two birdies on his final two holes resulting in him being tied for third place.

“It’s nice to put a good round together, it’s been a while,” exhaled Koepka. “I’ve been working hard, just got into some bad habits and bad swing positions. We worked pretty hard last week, Pete Cowen and Jeff Pierce were on me pretty good, and Pete got into me again on Monday, in the bunker for about 45 minutes. I just sat there, and he scolded me pretty well.

“It’s just a matter of executing the feels versus perception for where I’ve been, I think. It’s been so far off, it’s on opposite sides, but now it’s starting to click. Unfortunately, we’re about halfway through the season, so that’s not ideal, but we’re learning.”

Koepka believes the club is in a better spot with his previous perception of where the club was at being eight or nine inches off. Last week it all started to click to where the ball flight is starting to evolve into a fade and eliminated the two-way miss.

As for Cowen’s scolding, Koepka said it was so bad that Justin Thomas thought Koepka needed to be checked on after 45 minutes in the bunker.

Koepka kept what was said private, but he said it was a message he was not happy with at the time, even if it was something he needed to hear.

Koepka added that he does not like having ‘yes men’ around him and he wants to hear the truth, praising Cowen.

Koepka did not see video of his swing Thursday, as he spoke to reporters shortly after his round, but if his feel is to be believed, then the rest of the field might be in trouble.

“I would probably look that my swing looks quite similar to how it did in ’13 or years past,” finalized Koepka. “It’s definitely trending in that direction.”

I’M AN ALBATROSS

Patrick Reed was one-over par three holes in and looked for a boost. Look no further than the fourth hole.

Reed pulled 3-wood from 287 yards out and it found the bottom of the cup, good for the fourth albatross in U.S. Open history.

“It was kind of one of those things that since you didn’t really see it go in and all that, this golf course is just go out and make good golf swings,” he said. “You try to hit your spots. It felt like going into there I was swinging it really well. (It) just happened to be a perfect spot, perfect club. When all you see is a tower, you’re trying to hit at the tower. For it to go obviously is a bonus.”

🚨 ALBATROSS ALERT 🚨@PReedGolf with a 2 on a par 5, just the 4th in U.S. Open history! pic.twitter.com/FNDFzWwlzT

— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 12, 2025

This was Reed’s third-ever albatross. The first came when he was a junior golfer and he hit driver off the deck. The group in front of him was on the green and they jumped as the ball passed them into the hole. This was the only albatross Reed actually saw go in the hole.

The other was in Germany coming out of a rain delay that took him to the next day. His wife Justine explained he had the perfect yardage for a 4-iron on the par-5. She had told him to get to 3-under and when he got home and she checked the scorecard she saw the score and how he got there.

THEY SAID IT

“I mean, that round took a while. What time did we tee off, 1:24? That’s over five and a half — that’s a long time to be out there on the golf course, especially on a day where there were almost no conditions. There was a little bit of wind but not much overall. but the golf course is just challenging.  Overall. I just feel like after today, I’ve probably got to give myself a few more looks, a few sloppy bogeys today, and would have been a little bit of a different story.” – Scottie Scheffler

“I feel like I have, even so far this year, I feel like when my game is in a good spot, I can compete with anybody. It was good to see. Obviously first U.S. Open. You always hear stories about how that rough there is kind of like the U.S. Open. It’s just not. It’s something special, and I really enjoyed it.” – Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen

“I sort of made it a goal of mine to commit on every shot, and I got that right about 99 percent of the time. There’s always going to be doubt in your mind as this golf course being so tough. Just the all-around game was good from the tee. That’s where the golf starts on this golf course is from the tee. You need to give yourself a chance to get to the green. I was in the fairway most of the time and gave myself a lot of good chances and managed to execute the iron shots as well and made a couple of nice putts and nice par saves.” – Thriston Lawrence

“I played some incredible golf to shoot 1 under, which we don’t usually say, right? Not many things I could really say about today. The only thing I could think about is the putt on 12. That was a short birdie putt that I should have made. It was a bit of a misread and a bad stroke. I feel like those are the moments early in the championship that can test you a little bit, and you’ve got to get over it quickly because it is Oakmont, so you say that happened and move on.” – Jon Rahm

“(I) just didn’t get anything out of it. I kept it 1 under through 7, through 8, perfect drive on 9, and this golf course can come up and get you pretty quick and you’ve just got to be on your game, and it got me, and I wasn’t fully on my game. Pretty disappointed with how I played. It’s not too far off. Just got to get the putting a little bit more dialed, and I’ll be right there because 3 over could have easily been 2 under today.” – Bryson DeChambeau

“I played three nine holes, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and I saw the past scores, like 5 over win. Honestly, I don’t even know what I’m doing on the course. Kind of hitting good but feel like this course is too hard for me. So kind of like no expectation, but I played great today.” – Si Woo Kim