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 The 24-year-old arrived in the United Arab Emirates after winning
the $7 million Turkish Airlines Open a week ago, eclipsing the likes
of Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson to claim his maiden
European Tour victory.
But an ill-fated burger stop en route from Turkey left the Floridian
stricken with food poisoning. He was forced to withdraw from Dubai's
pre-tournament pro-am and limit practice sessions at the Earth
course.
"I didn’t feel like I had any energy," Koepka told Reuters. "Today I
still don’t feel like I have full energy back."
Those woes were reflected in a dire six-over 78 in Thursday’s first
round, but the ebullient American bounced back on day two, shrugging
off two early bogeys to pick up shots at holes seven and 11 before
making four successive birdies from the 13th.
 "I really got it going on the back nine," said Koepka, who has a
career-high world ranking of 35.
For the birdie on 11, Koepka said "I took two terrible shots, missed
the green but holed from off the green from about 35 feet.
"The next hole I hit a nice little wedge to a couple of feet and
made that. The next hole the same thing, wedged it in and on 16 I
hit what I thought would be a good shot and ended up about 25 feet
away and just holed that."
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Koepka is on 146, two-over at the halfway stage and so is unlikely
to trouble the leaders, who were at seven-under.
"I was pleased. I’m still playing well, trying to get over food
poisoning - we’re just going to throw two good rounds at it," he
said.
"I needed to lose weight, so that’s fine,” he joked.
Koepka’s win in Turkey propelled him into the top 10 of the European
Tour money list. However, he is planning a reduced schedule in
Europe and on the U.S PGA Tour in 2015.
"I’m tired of playing golf. I want a break, so probably maximum I’ll
play 20-23 events whereas I’ve already played 28 (this year)."
(1 US dollar = 0.8004 euro)
(Reporting by Matt Smith. Editing by Patrick Johnston)
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