PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Brooks Koepka doesn’t aspire to simply make the weekends. Ben Silverman was merely hoping to play, period.
They’ll return to PGA National on Saturday, after bouncing back in the second round of the Cognizant Classic.
Koepka shot a 5-under 66 on Friday, trimming eight shots from his opening round score, and Silverman shaved six shots from his opening round with a 3-under 67. That got them well within the cut line, and both are at 2 under headed into the weekend – nine shots behind leader Austin Smotherman (69).
“If I’m out here to try to make cuts, I’m probably done,” said Koepka, the five-time major championship winner who is a native of Palm Beach County and has a bit of a home-field edge this week. He has now made two of three cuts since returning to the PGA Tour earlier this year following a stint of nearly four years with Saudi-backed LIV.
Koepka only hit six of 14 fairways on Friday but putted the ball far better and made six birdies – four more than he had in Round 1.
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“I hit it a lot worse today,” Koepka said. “Didn’t drive it nearly as good. Iron play wasn’t as good, but the putter was better. Made a few adjustments after the round yesterday.”
Smotherman stayed red-hot, with a 55-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th among the highlights as he took a three-shot lead into the weekend. Taylor Moore is second, solo at 8 under after his second consecutive 67. A.J Ewart (64, the round of the day) is at 7 under, tied for third with Nico Echavarria (72).
Ewart played his college golf at Barry University in Miami Shores, maybe a 90-minute drive or so from Palm Beach Gardens. He’s been to the Cognizant before as a fan and remembers following Koepka around in the past – though confessed some of the memories are hazy. “Couple too many drinks sitting in the Bear Trap,” he said, referring the stretch of holes 15 through 17 at PGA National.
“Coming into the week, I had never actually played the golf course, but I felt like I knew it just from watching it,” Ewart said. “Somewhat of a home game, yeah. It feels good.”
Koepka thought he’d be playing the first two rounds with Daniel Berger – another Palm Beach County player – and Will Zalatoris. But Zalatoris withdrew shortly before Round 1 with an ankle injury, giving Silverman a chance to get into the field as an alternate.
Silverman – who lives in Jupiter, about a 15-minute drive from the course that Cognizant calls home – put together rounds of 73-67 to make the weekend. He missed the cut by four shots at PGA National last year in this event.
“My focus going into the week was I’m taking a week off at home, and if I get in, great. I was 15th alternate Sunday. I moved to 13th Monday morning, then that moved to fourth Monday afternoon, and the three guys in front of me I knew were committed to Argentina, so once they pulled out Wednesday, then it was, ‘Maybe I’ve got a chance now,'” Silverman said. “I was pretty excited when it happened.”
He was also pretty tired when the first two rounds were done. Back-to-back days of 4:30 a.m. alarms – with about 18 hours of being at the course in that span – will do that to someone. He went through two gym sessions and two warm-ups on Thursday morning even before getting the call that Zalatoris couldn’t play.
“It was awesome,” Silverman said. “Honestly, I would love to play in a group like that every day, major winners, multiple PGA Tour winners. It’s a different vibe, different energy amongst the players, amongst the crowd. I like that environment. That’s where I want to be. Thanks to Will, unfortunately, but throwing me in that position was fortunate.”
Added Koepka: “I think he’ll enjoy his sleep tonight.”
