SAN DIEGO — Brooks Koepka walked off the final green late on Friday afternoon and immediately found his wife, Jena Sims, and their two-year-old son, Crew, waiting for him.
Koepka greeted his wife and quickly scooped up an excited Crew for the walk back from the ninth green at the North Course down to the scorers room at the clubhouse at Torrey Pines, safe for the weekend.
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That moment, he said earlier in the week, was the entire reason he wanted to leave LIV Golf and come back to the PGA Tour. He wanted to be able to spend more time with his family after a rough couple of months for them off the course.
“I don’t know the last time I’ve actually made a cut and they’ve still been there,” Koepka said, smiling.
“It was so nice to have them out there, and it felt good. I don’t know, my son doesn’t really know what’s going on, but it’s cool for me to have them here.”
Koepka posted a 4-under 68 on Friday in the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open, which marked his first non-major championship PGA Tour event in nearly four years. That, after his 1-over opening round on the South Course on Thursday, got him to 3-under for the week — which was just good enough to make the cut on the number.
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As a result, Koepka will make it into the weekend and get all four rounds in his first Tour event back.
While his round was significantly better than the initial outing — Koepka even made a birdie at the par-5 17th before carding two birdies in his final five holes — he was still a bit anxious as he settled back into life on Tour. It was just a different kind than what he felt 24 hours earlier.
“It was definitely different,” he said of his second round. “I think yesterday I was excited to play, nervous and kind of didn’t know what to expect. Today felt more normal, I guess.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I definitely still got antsy. But I guess maybe a little bit of nerves, just trying to figure it out and see where my game’s at too, right? I feel like I’m playing really well. It’s just been a long layoff.”
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Koepka very likely won’t be able to catch Justin Rose and make a run at the title this weekend. The deficit he’s facing is massive. But he’s going to get to play all four rounds, and have both Jena and Crew by his side.
Justin Rose sets 36-hole record, extends lead
Unlike plenty who took it on before him this week, the South Course was incredibly easy for Justin Rose.
Rose erupted on the North Course on Thursday, where he carded a 10-under 62 on the easier of the two courses to kick off the tournament and instantly jump into the solo lead. Friday was nearly as dominant, too. Rose seemed to handle the South Course, which got just about everyone in the opening round, with ease to grab a four-shot lead.
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Rose went 5-under on his front nine in the second round, thanks to a huge eagle at the par-5 sixth. Rose stuck his second shot on the front of the green and then easily rolled in an 8-footer with ease.
He did bogey once on the day, but immediately offset it with another birdie. Rose then birdied the final two holes to get to 17-under, thanks in part to an absolute dart he landed on the iconic par-5 18th. That broke his own 36-hole record at the event.
“That was two special rounds of golf,” Rose said. “Today probably even more so just given it’s hard to often follow up a low one.”
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Rose has won 12 times on Tour in his career, most recently in a playoff at the FedEx St. Jude Championship last fall. Rose forced a playoff with Rory McIlroy at the Masters in April, too, but .
Though he’s still got a ways to go to grab his first win of the season, Rose is in full control of the midway point. And he’s well on his way to surpassing the near-record 21-under he posted to win the event seven years ago.
Yet even knowing where he’s at, Rose isn’t going to adjust a thing.
“I felt like I was even thinking about it [late in my round] and I thought that actually, I don’t think anything changes … You go out and play this golf course as it’s designed to be played,” he said. “There’s going to be pin placements that you can’t take on. You have to play it with some patience and respect and you’re going to have to play well. You’re going to have to play from the fairway.
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“So yeah, whether I was four back or four ahead, like I don’t think it actually changes the task that much tomorrow.”
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