Latest news with #PeteCowen
Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Times
US Open live: leaderboard, scores and analysis from round 2
Rick Broadbent, Oakmont Interesting to hear Brooks Koepka say a 45-minute tongue-lashing from no-nonsense coach Pete Cowen helped him during his first round here. This method goes back a long way. After the WGC in Memphis in 2017 the Yorkshire veteran first took Koepka to task for the 'dog's dead' attitude and self-pitying shrugs. He sat him down in the practice area at the US Open at Erin Hills and told him he was embarrassing. Koepka duly won his first major and Cowen still has the signed flag inscribed with the message: 'Thanks for the bollocking.' An unremarkable tee shot at the 11th threatens to undo all that good work from the previous hole, but the world No1 manages to lay up and get up and down in two from about 120 yards. An ominous sign for his rivals. Meanwhile, Brooks Koepka is down at three under courtesy of another birdie, tapping in after an almost banana-esque roll on his putt at the par-5 12th. That puts him tied for second. No such luck for Justin Thomas though, with a double-bogey 7 on that same hole. He's nine over. Some updates. Here comes the world No1 and US PGA Championship winner, Scottie Scheffler. He started with an opening round of 73 but starts day two with a birdie, rolling in from about 20ft at the 10th. Viktor Hovland, meanwhile, is back at level par courtesy of a birdie from off the green. Rahm and Dustin Johnson have both bogeyed the 1st, the former slipping back to even overall. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. Now this is the major Koepka we remember! Having conceded that bogey on the 10th he bounces back with a lovely putt on the next hole to restore that two-under deficit. No such luck for group-mate Justin Thomas though, whose putt rolls past the lip of the hole on his attempted par save. The Spaniard (-1), who tied for eighth at the US PGA Championship, tees off from the par-4 1st today, playing in a big-name group with Jordan Spieth (E) and Dustin Johnson (+5). That will be one to watch. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. The American is starting at the par-4 10th hole and is now wielding the putter, but he's pushed it wide. That's a disappointing start after he birdied back-to-back holes yesterday to finish the round and now he drops back to one under. A rather extraordinary passage of play, not that Will Chandler will appreciate it. The American aims for the green — and indeed finds it, albeit a distance from the hole — but his ball rather hypnotically rolls all the way back. For 40 whole seconds. Ouch. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. Among the early starters today are the trio of Min Woo Lee, Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka, the latter starting the day two shots back from the lead on two under. His partners? Seven over and six over respectively, which gives you some idea of just how demanding it is at Oakmont. Rick Broadbent, Oakmont This US Open will not be pretty. The best players in the world are about to be humbled by a course that is breathtaking only in its difficulty. Indeed, Jeff Hall, part of the USGA's set-up team, said: 'The members seem to love going 15 rounds with Mike Tyson every day.' It may even be the toughest course in the world. Last Monday Rory McIlroy finished his scouting mission with two birdies for a round of 81. 'I didn't feel I played that badly,' he shrugged. Xander Schauffele, much fancied here for his psyche as well as his game, relishes that challenge and said: 'Maybe I'm just sick. I don't think people turn on the TV to watch guys hit a 200-yard shot on the green. I think they turn on the US Open to see a guy suffer and shoot eight over.' • Rick Broadbent: Oakmont — is this brutal US Open course the world's hardest? Rick Broadbent, Oakmont For a couple of hours, all the talk of Oakmont's terrors seemed overstated and this fantastic beast by the Allegheny River looked about as dangerous as a stuffed fish on a marble plinth. The tough reputation has been well earned, though, and by the end of the first day at a sun-baked US Open players were using words like bloodbath, and Rory McIlroy's promising start had been consumed by deep disappointment. After a bogey-free first nine, he dropped six shots, finished at four over par and was not in the mood to discuss it afterwards. Scottie Scheffler was just starting out on his own troubled path at that point and JJ Spaun was talking into a camera after setting the clubhouse pace with a round of 66. Spaun only convinced himself not to quit the game a year ago after watching the rom-com Wimbledon, about a jaded tennis player who wins the eponymous championship and gets the girl. He would settle for the trophy this week. • Rick Broadbent: Day one report Hello and a very warm welcome to day two of the US Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania. One of the most challenging courses on the major's rotation, golf's stars had ample opportunity to explore every nook and cranny of Oakmont's thick rough and troublesome bunkers during the first round, and there will be plenty more of that to come today. Rick Broadbent will be on hand from the course to bring you the latest news and updates.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Brooks Koepka reveals brutal 'scolding' from coach Pete Cowen inspired US Open resurgence
Brooks Koepka has revealed a 45-minute rollicking from the no-nonsense Englishman in his corner was responsible for his resurgence at the US Open. The five-time major winner rebounded from back-to-back missed cuts at the Masters and the PGA Championship by firing his way to a first-round 68 at Oakmont to sit just two shots off JJ Spaun's lead. Koepka has now credited his turnaround to 74-year-old Yorkshireman Pete Cowen, his coach, who tore strips off him over his attitude at the start of the week. The American said: 'It's nice to put a good round together. It's been a while. I've been working hard, just got into some bad habits and bad swing positions. Pete got into me on Monday, in the bunker for about 45 minutes. I just sat there, and he scolded me pretty well. 'I'll put it this way: JT (Justin Thomas) thought he had to come check on me in the bunker. We were in there for about 45 minutes, and he (Thomas) was on the other side of the green. 'I saw him Monday night. We were at a Rolex function. He was like, 'I was worried; your head was down'. I wasn't happy with it, but it was something I think you need to hear or I needed to hear at the right time. It's not the first time he's done it. He's not afraid to. 'I don't like having "yes" people around me. I just want somebody to tell me the truth, tell me what's going on, what they see. 'If I start swaying from being Brooks Koepka, then I want someone to call me out on it, and he did a helluva job on it.' Koepka added: 'I would say from the first weekend in April until about last week, you didn't want to be around me. It drove me nuts. It ate at me. 'I haven't been happy. It's been very irritating. I had to apologise to everybody. I wouldn't have wanted to be around me.'
Daily Mail
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Rory McIlroy's former coach opens up on the Northern Irishman's mindset after horror first round at the PGA Championship
Rory McIlroy 's former coach Pete Cowen has given fans an insight into the Northern Irishman's mentality following his struggles in the first round of the PGA Championship. Masters champion Rory McIlroy already faces a mammoth task to make it two major titles in a row after an error-strewn opening round at Quail Hollow. McIlroy, who ended his 11-year wait for a major title at the Masters last month, laboured his way to a three-over-par 74 and already trails leader Jhonattan Vegas by 10 shots. McIlroy's mindset has been a major point of discussion in the sport, both before and after his triumph at Augusta. And old coach Cowen believes McIlroy is still mentally the same player that he worked with for eight months in 2021. Speaking to SveaCasino, he said: 'I don't work with him now but I've always been friendly with him and that's why he asked me during COVID when Michael Bannon, who has been his coach forever, didn't want to travel. To be fair, we won five times when working together. 'I haven't seen a change in his mentality. He's the same player since I worked with him but that relief of coming through will only help with any positive attitude.' Cowen currently coaches LIV Golf star Brooks Koepka, who also had a first round to forget at the PGA Championship, finishing four over. He also missed the cut at the Masters. 'Brooks just needs to putt a little bit better, everything else in his game is in place. He's not far off. He messed up a bit at Augusta when he had a chance of getting back into it in the second round on the 16th green. 'He had a putt to go one under, missed that from 3 foot, bogeyed the 17th and lost his ball on the 18th to miss the cut. These things happen. He just needed to hold a few putts.'
Telegraph
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Rise of the nine-wood, the salvation of shameless hackers
Once the salvation of the shameless hacker, the rise of the nine-wood is one of the more unusual trends in the elite professional men's game. But the fact that Collin Morikawa – arguably the world's best iron player – is turning to the dark side highlights that this could be so much more than a fad. Any 18-handicapper worthy of his or her one-shot per hole will tell you the merits of swapping out a four-iron or five-iron or perhaps both for a club with the same loft that makes it easier to hit it from the rough. But professionals are supposed to be far more accomplished, so this ever-growing movement has taken the range by surprise. 'I'm not sure I ever thought that we'd be seeing so many big names putting it in their bag,' Pete Cowen, the renowned coach, said. 'But a while ago the seven-wood raised in popularity and now it's the nine-wood's turn. Yeah, the bigger equipment makers are marketing them, but the pros only use something if it works. And the nine-wood clearly does, as you might see here [ at the US PGA Championship ] this week.' Now serving up 9-wood butter cuts. Check out the new #Qi35Fairway @collin_morikawa is testing this week, and then check the spec. 👇 #TeamTaylorMade — TaylorMade Golf (@TaylorMadeGolf) May 12, 2025 Depending on who you talk to, there are debates over was the first to employ the game-improver on Tour, but as one of Tommy Fleetwood's nicknames is 'Tommy Nine-Wood' it is fair to consider the Englishman as one of the pioneers. 'For years I have switched between a three-iron and a seven-wood, depending on the test ahead,' he said. 'If its windy, then the three-iron goes in, but if I need a higher launch to help stop approach shots on firm greens, I go in with the seven-wood. The nine-wood is just an extension of this and I happily put it into play a few years ago.' Fleetwood first used the TaylorMade Stealth Nine-Wood at the 2023 Players Championship and has not really looked back – just upwards. The PGA Tour website explains that 'due to the centre of gravity, club design, and length of shaft, fairway woods will naturally produce longer and higher-flying golf shots compared to their iron equivalents'. 'It has 24 degrees of loft, about the same as a four-wood, but it is like hitting a wedge onto the green – it goes up and drops straight down,' Fleetwood explained. 'It's not a club you're going to drill and get more out of it, it's just going to go up in the air and come straight down. I's a nice feeling when the ball drops down next to the hole like an anvil.' TaylorMade's Senior Manager, Adrian Rietveld, concurs with Fleetwood, for whom he has, on occasion, worked as an emergency caddie. It is almost akin to a cheat code. 'These nine-woods are basically pitching wedges for a 225-yard shot,' he said. Fleetwood's secret weapon did not stay classified for long. Dustin Johnson, the former world No 1, had also chucked the weapon into battle and his example inspired his LIV comrade Richard Bland to do the same. The Englishman, who qualified for this week courtesy of winning last year's Senior US PGA, is ready to utilise it at Quail Hollow in the season's second major, believing that it will be a huge help because of the thick, wet rough. Will Morikawa do the same? He 'gamed' a TaylorMade Qi35 nine-wood at last week's Truist Championship and was impressed. He thanked his new bagman, Joe Greiner, for the tip. 'I never even thought about a nine-wood,' Morikawa said. 'But when I was talking to Joe, I was asking about four-irons and he mentioned it [Greiner's previous employer Max Homa tested one last year]. It's kind of a club, not that I struggle with, but I want to find the perfect distance and launch with, especially in certain conditions. 'Look, it has stopping power from 225 yards. It probably hits the ball the highest of any club in my bag. So why wouldn't you use it? You'd probably be dumb not to have a go.' So let the purists sneer. 'Doesn't bother me,' Johnson said. 'If it saves shots, I ain't proud.'
