It’s almost becoming just their regular group — Rory and Brooks; Brooks and Rory.
Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy, both four-time major champions, are paired together for the first two rounds of The Northern Trust at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City this week, which will make it five of the past six rounds on the PGA Tour the two long-bombers have played together. Koepka and McIlroy are also ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the FedEx Cup standings, respectively, going into this first leg of the three-tournament playoff schedule.
Koepka is on the path to defending his title as PGA Tour Player of the Year, having won the PGA Championship in May at Bethpage Black on Long Island. It was his second straight PGA Championship after he also won back-to-back U.S. Opens in 2017 and 2018. In the four majors this season, the man known for playing his best in the biggest tournaments had the one win, two second-place finishes and one fourth.
McIlroy, meanwhile, hasn’t won a major since the 2014 PGA Championship, having won his four in a span of four years. He went a full calendar year without a victory on the PGA Tour, from the 2018 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill until this year’s Players Championship in mid-March. He then added a second win, at the Canadian Open in early June. McIlroy’s practice was delayed Tuesday due to brief bad weather coming through.