Brooks Koepka plays through aftermath of injury to take share of US PGA lead

Floridian shoots first-round 69 on torrid day at Kiawah Island
Rory McIlroy labours to 75 in Koepka’s company

Those taking interest in Brooks Koepka’s preview press conference at this US PGA Championship may have sensed an unwitting stumble into an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. Some 16 out of 17 questions as posed to Koepka related in some way or other to matters of injury.

Therein lies the reason it has been easy to forget Koepka’s one-time – and recent – specialism on these platforms. Fitness woes, apparently prolonged by knee surgery just weeks before the Masters, have threatened to undermine the Floridian’s quest for greatness. Two of the 31‑year‑old’s major triumphs to date came in this event.