LOS ANGELES — They shared a bro handshake and a laugh or two on the first tee box. Then, the odd couple — Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka — started down the fairway in search of solutions for the biggest problem in golf.
On Thursday at the U.S. Open, it had nothing to do with Saudi-backed LIV Golf (Koepka’s tour) or the future of the PGA Tour (McIlroy’s). Rather, it was the eight-shot deficit they shared before they’d even put a tee in the ground.
McIlroy did something about it. Koepka didn’t.
McIlroy shot 5-under 65 to pull within three of Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler, who, hours earlier, had finished up record-setting 62s at Los Angeles Country Club. McIlroy’s only bogey came on 18 — really it was a terrific save after not moving the ball an inch on his third shot from deep greenside rough.
Koepka spent most of the day in search of fairways during a 1-over 71 round that would be just fine on most opening days, but not this one.
The USGA’s pairing of Koepka and McIlroy — with Hideki Matsuyama added to the mix to presumably play peacemaker — caught the golf world’s eye.
McIlroy was the most outspoken defender of the PGA Tour when players started defecting for LIV Golf about a year ago. When the tour and the Saudi backers of LIV announced last week that they were ending hostilities and going into business together, McIlroy said he felt like “a sacrificial lamb” — a front man who espoused all that was good about the tour but wasn’t even given a heads-up before the deal was announced.
Koepka was never as outspoken about his move to LIV, but when he won the PGA Championship last month, he blew holes in the theory that all the LIV guys went for the easy money because they didn’t have game anymore.
If there was any animosity between two of the world’s best and most high-profile players, it didn’t show. They were joking as they stood between the putting green and the first tee box, and just before their names were announced, they clasped hands like good buddies.
In the lead-in to the U.S. Open this week, Koepka said “I enjoy the chaos” that was consuming golf. He has collected all five of his majors since McIlroy won his fourth and most recent in 2014, and Koepka considers his ability to block the outside noise as a major advantage.
McIlroy, who grew more reluctant to talk about the LIV-PGA Tour schism as time went on, canceled his scheduled pre-tournament news conference.
After Day 1 of the U.S. Open, it was McIlroy’s golf game doing most of the talking, while Koepka left looking for answers.