Koepka vents frustration at slow play after Holmes watch gesture

Brooks Koepka vented his frustration at the speed of fellow players after being visibly annoyed by playing partner J.B. Holmes in round four of The Open.

Holmes toiled his way to a dismal 87 in difficult conditions at Royal Portrush on Sunday, finishing the tournament six over having been in contention all weekend.

The 37-year-old is known as one of the more leisurely players on the PGA Tour and Koepka, who adopts a no-nonsense attitude, appeared unhappy with Holmes' approach – even pretending to point to a watch when walking off the 12th green.

"I wasn't wearing a watch, I mean he had a rough day but J.B. is a slow player. I know it's difficult with the wind, but I didn't think he was that bad today. I thought he was all right," he said.

"There were times where I thought it was slow. There's a lot of slow guys out here. It's not the first time I've done it, especially when you've got a walking official with you.

"We were on pace for 13 holes. But I mean, if I'm in a group, we're going to be on pace no matter what. I'm usually ready to go, as soon as the guy's ball is coming down.

"I'm ready to go most of the time. That's what I don't understand when it's your turn to hit, your glove is not on, then you start thinking about it, that's where the problem lies.

"It's not that he takes that long. He doesn't do anything until his turn. That's the frustrating part. But he's not the only one that does it out here."

Last 5 major starts for @BKoepka:
1st
T2
1st
2nd
T4pic.twitter.com/9m0fGNY6Ux
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 21, 2019

Koepka became just the fifth player after Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth to finish inside the top five of every major in a calendar year.

But Koepka, who was tied fourth at Portrush, was disappointed not to finish higher up the leaderboard.

"I don't see much positive out of it. If you don't play good you're not going to win," he added.

"So, it's very simple. It's disappointing. I didn't play the way I wanted to. And I've got to live with that."

Published 22 Jul 2019, 00:16 IST