Promising start for McDowell at CJ Cup; Koepka v Rory rivalry hots up
Brooks Koepka . Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America
Graeme McDowell opened with a bogey free 68 to lie tied ninth after the opening round of the PGA Tour’s’ CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges in South Korea.
The Portrush native (40) is four strokes behind Byeong Hun An on four-under par on Jeju Island after his best round in the event.
Home hero An shot an eight-under 64 to lead by a shot from Chile’s Joaquin Niemann with world No 1 Brooks Koepka tied 15th after he finished birdie-par-eagle for a three-under 69.
Koepka made headlines on Wednesday when he told AFP that he didn’t believe he had a rivalry with McIlroy, essentially because the Holywood star has not managed to win a major for five years.
"I've been out here for, what, five years," Koepka said. "Rory hasn't won a major since I've been on the PGA Tour. So I just don't view it as a rivalry."
While the American retained the US PGA this year and finished second in Masters and the US Open and fourth in The Open, he lost out to McIlroy in their FedEx Cup battle and the vote for PGA Tour Player of the Year Award.
Rory McIlroy. Photo by Hailey Garrett/PGA of America
The pair will face off in the WGC HSBC Champions in Shanghai in a fortnight and the Holywood star will be keen to make a statement.
"He talked about trying to be the dominant player in the game," McIlroy said after outgunning Koepka at East Lake in August. "He is going to have to get through me first if he wants to do that.
"I have proved to myself now that I can play in the final group with him and beat him. So that gives me a lot of confidence going forward."
Both men won three times on the PGA Tour last season but while Koepka is on a major hot-streak compared to McIlroy who has gone winless in his last 19 major starts, he refuses to be drawn into rivalry talk.
"I'm not looking at anybody behind me,” Koepka insisted. "I'm number one in the world. I've got open road in front of me I'm not looking in the rearview mirror, so I don't see it as a rivalry."
The numbers say that Koepka has played 24 majors in his career, making 22 cuts (91.66 per cent) and claiming 12 top-10s (50 per cent).
His scoring average for 92 rounds is 70.35 and he’s earned $13.65 million en route to his four major wins.
McIlroy has won four of 44 majors starts since he made his debut as an amateur at Carnoustie in 2007, where he finished tied 42nd behind Pádraig Harrington.
He’s made 35 of 44 cuts (79.54 percent) and claimed 20 top-10s (45.45 percent) with a scoring average of 70.99, earning $1.2828.
The pair have coincided in 22 majors since the 2012 US Open with honours even head-to-head, 11 “wins” each.
McIlroy finished ahead of Koepka in eight of their first 10 majors together but he’s “won” just one of the last eight, the 2018 Open at Carnoustie, where he was tied second and Koepka tied 39th.
