SINGAPORE RD. 2 NEWS AND NOTES: ALL GOOD WITH KOEPKA AND WOLFF

SINGAPORE – Brooks Koepka enters the final round of LIV Golf Singapore with a three shot lead, while his team, Smash GC holds the advantage on the team leaderboard by one. But there were plenty more news, notes and stats from the second round at Sentosa Golf Club.

RELATED: LIV GOLF SINGAPORE RD. 2: KOEPKA LEADS BY 3; HIS SMASH TEAM UP BY 1

ROUND 2 NOTES

ALL GOOD WITH WOLFF AND KOEPKA: Plenty of drama played out last season regarding Brooks Koepka and his former Smash teammate Matthew Wolff, and it eventually resulted in Wolff being traded to RangeGoats GC for 2023 Individual Champion Talor Gooch.

Sunday will be the first time Koepka and Wolff have been next to each other atop the final-round leaderboard since the trade, although they will not be playing in the same group. Koepka is in the lead group with Thomas Pieters and Adrian Meronk, while Wolff tees off 11 minutes earlier. Both groups will start on hole No. 1.

“I don't think it really matters” Wolff said when asked if he’d rather be in Koepka’s group. “I think I'm out there focusing on myself, trying to play the best that I can play, and I'm not worried about what other people are doing. Every single tournament, every single round, I just go out there and give it my best, and that's all I can really do. Like I said, I can't control what other people are doing. So why focus on him?”

Koepka noted that the two players were in the same group last week in Adelaide, although neither were in contention for the title.

“Look, I have no problem with Matt,” Koepka said. “We just didn't gel, see eye to eye on how things were or how I thought they should be. I've always liked him as a person. I think he's a great kid. I've said that to a bunch of people even behind closed doors during everything last year. It was a good thing for him to leave the team and go to the RangeGoats, and it was a good thing for our team.

“Look, he's fine. He seems to be playing better, in a better head space, better form, better everything.”

WOLFF, HIS BROTHER AND SINGAPORE: Eli Wolff is in town to support his younger brother Matthew, and his presence seems to be paying off.

Matthew Wolff will enter Sunday’s final round at LIV Golf Singapore tied for second at 9 under, three shots behind Brooks Koepka.

Eli Wolff was in the gallery when Matthew won for the first time on the PGA Tour five years ago. The RangeGoats GC star is hoping for similar success Sunday. “Maybe he’s my good-luck charm,” Matthew said.

Matthew said his brother has always had Singapore on his bucket list and wanted to attend last year’s tournament, but Matthew was with his fiancée. So, the brothers circled the 2024 tournament as the one for Eli to attend.

In fact, Eli arrived in Singapore earlier than Matthew, and spent Monday walking around the city. “28,000 steps,” Matthew reported.

Perhaps one of the reasons Eli enjoys Singapore is that the heat and humidity have little impact on him. “He doesn’t sweat,” Matthew said. “My shirt is drenched out there and his isn’t.”

SMASH SEEKS SECOND WIN IN 2024: The revamped Smash lineup with offseason acquisitions Talor Gooch and Graeme McDowell won the team title in the chilly weather in Las Vegas. Now the team is one day away from its second win of 2024 in the heat in Singapore.

Nine teams are within 10 shots of the lead, and with all four scores counting this season, that’s not an insurmountable lead. The closest pursuers are Ripper GC, just one shot back and currently in terrific form after winning on home soil at LIV Golf Adelaide in the first team playoff against Stinger GC.

“We’ve had some success this year, but we haven't clicked really,” Gooch said. “I know that we've all at times been searching for our games, and so we know how hard it is to win as a team out here, and you don't take it for granted. Hopefully we can go get it done tomorrow.”

35 BOGEY-FREE HOLES FOR PIETERS: Thomas Pieters was bogey-free through his first 35 holes at Sentosa, but then he found the water with his tee shot Saturday on the easiest hole on the course, the par-5 18th. It ultimately cost him a bogey and dropped him into a tie for second.

“I just wasn't focused,” Pieters said. “Usually, I'll focus on a really tiny spot out there, and I didn't, and I just hit it and it went left. It was just stupid.”

100 MARK FOR RAHM: Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm became the first player this season to record 100 birdies. Rahm, who joined LIV Golf in the offseason, entered the second round with a league-leading 98 birdies. He opened his round with a birdie at the par-4 fifth, then made a birdie at the par-5 seventh to reach 100.

Rahm made seven birdies in shooting a 4-under 68 on Saturday and now has 105 birdies on the season.

SHOTGUN START TIME MOVED UP: Sunday’s final round will begin at 8:05 a.m. local time (8:05 p.m. EDT Saturday) in hopes of avoiding any potential weather issues in the afternoon. The leaders group of Brooks Koepka, Thomas Pieters and Adrian Meronk will start off the first tee at 8:16 a.m. local.

ROUND 2 STATS LEADERS

Driving accuracy: Abraham Ancer, 92.86.% (13 of 14 fairways hit)

Driving distance: Matthew Wolff, 337.3 yards avg.

Longest drive: Matthew Wolff, 339.8 yards, 5th hole

Greens in regulation: Adrian Meronk, Marc Leishman, Henrik Stenson, Matt Jones, 88.89% (16 of 18 greens)

Scrambling: Richard Bland (5 of 5), Harold Varner III (4 of 4), Dean Burmester (4 of 4), Louis Oosthuizen (4 of 4), Bryson DeChambeau (3 of 3), Brooks Koepka (3 of 3), Adrian Meronk (2 of 2); Marc Leishman (2 of 2), Henrik Stenson (2 of 2), 100%

Putting: Lucas Herbert, 1.33 putts per hole

Bogey-free rounds: Brooks Koepka (64), Bryson DeChambeau (66), Adrian Meronk (66), Marc Leishman (67), Harold Varner III (67), Richard Bland (68)