Koepka Leading the PGA

The leaders are teeing off right now in the 100th PGA Championship, the last of the four majors for the year in professional golf. Brooks Koepka is leading the field by two strokes, at 12-under par, for 54 holes on the par 70 Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri. Adam Scott is at 10-under par, 200. Then there are three pros tied at 9-under par. So many of the leaders are the best players on the PGA Tour. Koepka is going for his third major win in the past five majors. He has an amazing streak going.

Tiger Woods is in the hunt at 8-under par. Tiger is contending this year because he is really swinging the club well. His putting has been holding him back. I’ve been critical of Tiger’s swing the past nearly ten years. In his early years on the PGA Tour, Tiger had the greatest swing on Tour. And he proved it with all those wins. But Tiger then experimented too much with his swing. Heh, you can’t improve perfection. That was a huge mistake as Tiger went to different swing instructors, some of whom I don’t think are very good. Tiger should have stayed with Butch Harmon. But I guess egos clashed.

Television swing analyst Peter Kostis just said that Tiger is doing a good job of maintaining the level of his head in his swing. That is right on. As I’ve said many times in past years on this blog, that’s been Tiger’s main problem. Now he looks great.

I noticed that TV commentators said two of the nicest guys on the PGA Tour are Steward Cink and Tony Finau, both of whom are in the hunt this week, though a ways back. Cink and Finau are known for their Christian profession. I think both of them attend regularly the PGA Tour Bible Study.

It should be another exciting last day in a major on the world pro golf scene, unless strongman Koepka just runs away with it.

The last time a PGA Tour golf tournament was held at Bellerive was the U.S. Open in 1965, which Gary Player won. I was there, but not for long. I hate to tell you–I shot 81 and 80 to miss the cut by a mile. It was my first year on the PGA Tour. I triple-bogied the par 3 sixth hole by trying to play out of the water. It was all downhill from there. It became the worst golf tournament I ever played.