Brooks Koepka times his return to centre stage perfectly as he takes control at the Masters

Like the man who came in from the cold, Brooks Koepka – a prized asset of the start-up LIV Golf – returned to centre stage. With his once-broken body mended and his mind refocused, Koepka was like his old self as he again showed his Major mentality is different from regular weeks, wherever that may be, when taking control of his 87th edition of the Masters.

A second round 67 to add to his opening 65 for a 12-under-par midway total of 132 enabled the 32-year-old Floridian – with Ricky Elliott, a son of the Causeway Coast, on his bag – to move ominously into the clubhouse lead. Past history tells us that Koepka is a closer, as demonstrated by his four Major career wins, twice in the US Open (2017 and 2018) and twice in the US PGA (2018 and 2019).

If recent years have seen him a pale shadow of those dominant performances, with knee surgery and some two years of rehabilitation in order to get his body strong and his mind stronger, Koepka’s gentle scheduling on the LIV circuit has actually contributed to getting the time and space to work his way back to form.

On a day of false klaxons sounding in the Georgia air, with players not knowing whether they were coming or going at one point, a delay that lasted just 21 minutes at one point holding them in place until the threatened electricity in the air failed to materialise, Koepka’s strong showing saw him move into a position of strength with US amateur champion Sam Bennett the unlikeliest of chief pursuers.

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The second siren for a weather delay, however, had the threat of thunderstorms and very strong winds with electrical activity and, with some trees on the course felled, forced play to be suspended at 4.22pm local time with the grounds evacuated. At that point, Shane Lowry was level par on his round through 13 holes and remained on four under, in tied-10th. Séamus Power was also level par on his round, remaining on one over through 12 holes of his second round in tied-44th.

Koepka, for sure, avoided the pitfalls of others. Rory McIlroy was the high-profile fall guy – suffering a second missed cut in three years, with last year’s runners-up sandwiched in between – as his driving and especially his putting betrayed him in his hour of need. And as if to show how fickle the sport can be, Corey Conners, last week’s winner of the Valero Texas Open, also failed miserably.

In contrast, Koepka’s win on the LIV circuit a week ago in Florida provided fresh impetus to a career that seemed to be headed into culs-de-sac with no clear route back to where the one-time world number one had once belonged.

Having split with long-time coach Claude Harmon after the 2020 Masters, getting back together last November signalled a positive change in direction.

“Probably towards the end of last year, I felt it was coming. It wasn’t exactly all the way there. Probably, I’d say January I knew I was back. I knew everything was right where it needed to be strength-wise, mobility-wise and being able to do things with the golf swing,” said Koepka.

Last year, Koepka had wondered if he’d ever manage to work his way back but had never considered stepping away from the sport. “The only time I ever thought about not playing was if I couldn’t move the way I wanted to. If I wasn’t going to be able to move the way I wanted to, I didn’t want to play the game any more.

“It’s just that simple. There was definitely moments of that. Last year was pretty tough. Just a lot of frustration. Felt like I should have been ahead of where I was. Some other things off the course happened, and it just doesn’t put you in a good mood, and it’s tough to wake up every day and go through the whole grind, and it takes you 20 minutes just to get out of bed and move it. But I’m a lot better now,” he said.

Indeed, Koepka’s improved physical state has enabled him to reset goals with the career Grand Slam at the top.

“The whole goal is to win the Grand Slam, right. I feel like all the greats have won here and they have all won British Opens as well. Look, I guess it’s one more box for me to tick to truly feel like I’ve done what I should have accomplished in this game.”

Koepka’s round of an eagle and three birdies without dropping a shot enabled him to open up a four-strokes lead over Bennett, who shot a second successive 68 for 136 while back-to-back birdies from Jon Rahm on holes eight and nine moved the Spaniard to nine under and the main on-course threat.