Koepka misses cut while Steele takes charge, lead
Brooks Koepka’s only birdie Friday happened without the help of his putter, which made all the sense in the world.
The highest-ranked player in The Honda Classic field this week simply couldn’t score, and his tournament is over.
Koepka missed six putts inside of 10 feet Friday on his way to a second consecutive round of 4-over 74, leaving him at 8 over for the week and well outside the cut line at what essentially is his home tournament.
“Struck it really well,” said Koepka, the world’s third-ranked player. “Really pleased with how I’m hitting it. Putter, I just haven’t putted well.
“And every time I have missed one, I’ve hit some good shots … it’s very easy out here to turn a decent round into a little bit of a disaster.”
His lone birdie Friday was on the par-4 2nd hole, his 11th of the day, when he holed a chip from about 15 yards. The rest: one bogey, two double-bogeys and 14 pars.
And when it was over, he did not blame any issues on his left knee — on which he had stem cell treatment last fall to relieve pain.
“I’m fine,” Koepka said. “Everything’s good, no complaints.
“It’s nothing to do with my knee. It’s just me.”
Meanwhile, Brendan Steele made a couple of big mistakes down the stretch and still was more than good enough to grab the outright lead at the midpoint.
Steele shot a 3-under 67 on Friday, getting to 5 under for the week and putting himself a shot clear of J.T. Poston (69), Lee Westwood (69) and Luke Donald (66) after the second round at
PGA National.
This is Steele’s ninth time playing the Honda and the first time he’s ended any round at PGA National with the lead. He missed the cut last year by 10 shots, but most of what he’s doing so far this year has worked — that is, until he made bogey on two of his last three holes Friday.
“My first few years here I couldn’t quite figure it out,” Steele said. “I thought maybe it wasn’t a good course for me. … I don’t feel like it’s a course you can just jump out your first time and have it nailed. You have to see it in all the different winds and conditions that you have.”
The cut was 3 over, and most of the biggest names in the field aren’t sticking around for the weekend.
Joining Koepka in heading home were Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose and defending champion Keith Mitchell. Fowler (68) missed an eagle putt at the par-5 18th that would have gotten him to the weekend and fell a shot shy. Rose (74) was 6 over and missed by three shots, while Mitchell (72) missed by five shots.