{"id":597220,"date":"2026-04-11T14:47:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T14:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/597220\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T14:47:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T14:47:15","slug":"no-one-noticed-it-brooks-koepka-stunned-by-driver-mix-up-at-the-masters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/597220\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cNo one noticed it\u201d: Brooks Koepka stunned by driver mix-up at The Masters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brooks Koepka admitted he unknowingly used the wrong driver settings during the opening round of The Masters<\/a> after uncovering a surprising equipment error on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n

The five-time major champion endured an uncharacteristically erratic start at Augusta National Golf Club. Koepka <\/a>missed six of his first seven fairways, with tee shots repeatedly fading more than expected.<\/p>\n

Despite the early struggles, the former world number one adapted to the right miss and recovered well enough to post an opening even-par 72, finding seven fairways across the round.<\/p>\n

The explanation only emerged later.<\/p>\n

After returning to the range before sun set, Koepka discovered that the SureFit hosel on his Titleist GT3 driver<\/a> (voted one of the best drivers <\/a>by GolfMagic) had been inadvertently adjusted from its standard A1 setting to B1 \u2014 a setup that promotes a fade bias.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNo one noticed it,\u201d Koepka said.<\/p>\n

Scroll down to watch Koepka’s comments…<\/p>\n

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Under USGA rules, players are allowed to adjust their equipment between rounds, enabling Koepka to correct the setting ahead of Friday\u2019s second round.<\/p>\n

The difference was immediate.<\/p>\n

Koepka looked far more assured off the tee and carded a three-under 69, mixing six birdies with improved driving to climb to three-under par for the tournament.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf anything happens you just got to let it roll off your back and go with it and keep fighting,\u201d Koepka told reporters after the second round.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve done a good job of that. Three-putted the first hole twice, so proud of that; proud of the way I\u2019ve bounced back every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Koepka’s resilience reflects a broader trend in recent weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Koepka <\/p>\n

Koepka bounced back with a 69 on Friday<\/p>\n

Since returning to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf earlier this year, Koepka has recorded solid finishes including T9 at the Cognizant Classic, T13 at The Players Championship and T18 at the Valspar Championship.<\/p>\n

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A missed cut in Houston briefly disrupted that progress, though Koepka remained encouraged by his ball-striking.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven after the missed cut, I was hitting it really good,\u201d Koepka said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust got overly aggressive. Kind of was hitting it too good, and then you think you can take on everything, and you can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

That confidence was evident during his second round.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Koepka missed just four greens in regulation and produced a series of key par saves, including an 18-foot putt at the par-4 17th.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Two holes earlier, he recovered from a heavy-handed flop shot with another clutch putt from eight feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a good kind of momentum builder I guess going into tomorrow,\u201d Koepka said of the late saves. \u201cMakes you feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Koepka briefly moved within four shots of the lead by the time he finished his second round, but then Rory McIlroy surged clear<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The defending champion reeled off six birdies in his final seven holes to reach 12-under par, opening a commanding six-shot lead heading into the weekend.<\/p>\n

Koepka trails by nine entering the weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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McIlroy’s six-shot margin on Sam Burns and Patrick Reed marks the largest 36-hole lead in Masters history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Only two players have held bigger halfway leads in men\u2019s major championship history: Henry Cotton at the 1934 Open and Koepka himself at the 2019 Open \u2014 both of whom converted those leads into victory.<\/p>\n

McIlroy completed the career grand slam at The Masters last April.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Rory <\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy<\/p>\n

McIlroy is now targeting a successful title defence that would place him alongside Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods in the record books.<\/p>\n

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Koepka was also asked about comments<\/a> made by Tom Watson regarding LIV players returning to the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThat\u2019s fine if he thinks that. I\u2019m just grateful to be out here. The people that make those decisions let me out here. If you\u2019re going to get the opportunity to come back out, you\u2019re going to take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Koepka’s full comments on that here<\/a><\/p>\n

Subscribe to our Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brooks Koepka admitted he unknowingly used the wrong driver settings during the opening round of The Masters after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-597220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}