Brooks Koepka was forced to withdraw from the Tour Championship after he injured his left wrist during the third round Saturday.
Koepka hit his approach shot on No. 10 from the rough near a tree off the right side of the fairway. He appeared to hit a root on the swing. Koepka bogeyed the hole and followed with pars at Nos. 11 and 12, showing clear signs of pain, before heading off the course.
Koepka was 3 over par for the day and was 1 over for the tournament after opening rounds of 67 and 71.
“Same wrist I had issues with back in ‘17, ‘18, so just making sure it’s all good,” Koepka said after withdrawing from the tournament.
Koepka injured his left wrist late in 2018 and missed nearly four months in 2019 with a partially torn tendon in his left wrist. He also has missed time with hip and knee problems.
The injury could be an issue with the coming Ryder Cup. Koepka is one of six automatic selections for the team, which will compete against Europe on Sept. 24-26 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. Steve Stricker is set to make his six captain’s picks Wednesday.
Koepka will receive the $395,000 prize money for finishing 30th in the 30-man field.
Reed getting better
Despite leaving a hospital following a serious battle with bilateral pneumonia just two weeks ago, Patrick Reed is making a case to be on the Ryder Cup team.
Despite not playing a round of golf for 25 days – the first coming in the opening round of the Tour Championship on Thursday – Reed is 3 under par for the tournament. He shot his best round, a 4-under 66 on Saturday. That followed opening rounds of 72 and 69 after beginning the staggered scoring event in 30th and last place at even par. He has moved up to 21st place.
“The great thing is I felt like I can play now, I feel like I can do what I’m supposed to do,” Reed said Thursday. “I feel now it’s just get some reps in and just get the energy level and strength back which just takes a little bit of time, a little reps, a little practice.”
Reed certainly will give Stricker something to think about when it’s time to announce his Ryder Cup picks.
Oosthuizen gets help from time off
Louis Oosthuizen did the math. It appears his calculations were correct.
Oosthuizen made it to the Tour Championship after not playing the two events – including the playoff opener The Northern Trust – because of a neck injury. He had to withdraw from the Wyndham Championship with the injury when he was eighth in the FedEx Cup points standings. Missing the two tournaments, he slipped to 14th after the BMW Championship on the way to East Lake. The difference? In the staggered scoring system, he began at 3 under par. Had Oosthuizen stayed eighth on the list, he would have started at 4 under par. Both scenarios put him well behind the leader to start the tournament Patrick Cantlay at 10 under.
“Laying eighth in the FedEx Cup and laying 14th is the difference of one shot at Atlanta,” Oosthuizen told The Golf Channel. “That was my whole thinking. I thought being fresh was more important than that one shot.”
Oosthuizen had made a charge – for a time – in the Tour Championship. He opened with rounds of 68 and 67 to get to 8 under. In Saturday’s third round, he moved up to as high as third place, at 11 under, with birdies on three of the first four holes. However, it didn’t last as he finished the day 1 over following five bogeys and a late birdie. He is 12th at 7 under par.
High round/Low round
Abraham Ancer and Justin Thomas had the low rounds of the day, shooting 5-under 65. Harris English took a major stumble with a 5-over 75. He bogeyed the first three and four of the first five holes for a poor start. The trouble was compounded by a double bogey on No. 14.
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