AUGUSTA, Ga. — If history holds up, this Masters may already be over.
Brooks Koepka followed his first-round 65 with a second-round 67 on Friday afternoon to mount a three-shot lead on Friday at Augusta National before play was ultimately called due to storms. Though Jon Rahm, Cameron Young and Viktor Hovland still had plenty of golf to play Saturday morning, there’s a good chance Koepka’s 12-under total will be good enough to maintain sole possession of the 36-hole lead.
That’s significant, according to this discovery from stats guru Justin Ray, because it’s happened only 11 previous times. And in nine of those instances, the player in question went on to win.
The other two times? Take it away, Ray
Which, let’s be honest, is objectively hilarious.
Koepka’s track record at majors, coupled with his renewed conviction in his game and himself, makes him a solid bet to keep that trend going. If Rahm, Young or Hovland can’t reach that magic mark, the Augusta National tailor can get an early start on Koepka’s green jacket measurements.
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