Ben Solomon for The New York Times
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Brooks Koepka has won three of the last seven major golf championships, including the United States Open and last year’s P.G.A. Championship. He ranks third in the world, he tied for second at this year’s Masters and he has not shot a round over par since mid-March.
But Thursday, to most fans flocking to the first round of the 2019 Championship at Long Island’s Bethpage State Park Black Course, Koepka was merely one of the guys playing in the same group with the event’s headliner, Tiger Woods.