CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) It was just five years ago that Brooks Koepka won the Scottish Hydro Challenge to earn a spot on the European Tour.

He’s got fond memories of that, and even bigger things in mind in Scotland this week.

”Right now I’m focused on just winning,” the two-time U.S. Open champion said Tuesday. ”That’s the only thing I’ve got on my mind. Second place just isn’t good enough. I finished second a lot and just tired of it.”

Koepka was an aspiring young pro in search of his first big break when he came to Europe in 2012 to play the Challenge Tour. He won three times, including the victory in 2013 that got him on the European Tour.

His life has changed a lot since then, but Koepka remembers the fun he had on his way up.

”I didn’t have any options when I turned pro except to come over here and play,” he said. ”I enjoyed it. And I know I’ve said this a million times, it was the most fun I’ve ever had playing golf. Probably the funnest time of my life coming over here an..

Most golf predictions are useless. Except for this one.

Jason Statham IS Bruce Willis OR Someone Who Looks Very Much Like Bruce Willis in the trailer for “The Meg,” which, at the risk of resorting to exhausting internet-style hyperbole, is the best trailer in the history of the world. A shark-attack thriller in the vein of “Jaws, “Jaws II,” “Jaws XVII,” the one with Blake Lively’s wetsuit and every other aquatic death film that’s come out adjacent to Shark Week, “The Meg” is basically a remake of “Deep Blue Sea” without the LL Cool J theme song (sad face) and opens Aug. 10.
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But you don’t need to see it, because look at this trailer. It’s got Spear Gun Statham and fleeing bikinied beachgoers and oversized tentacles and music by Bobby Darin (Google him, millennials), because thanks to “Deadpool” we’re all going to endure about 90 more years of inappropriately lively songs laid over scenes of horrific violence. Can’t be that long until that trick g..

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) Justin Thomas lost a skin by making bogey. He won a bet by making par.

All on the same hole.

The difference – a big difference – was in the clubs Thomas used to cover the 472 yards on the 15th hole at Carnoustie. And that one hole during a British Open practice round Tuesday, with a little drama and a lot of laughs, captured the essence of this growing class of young American stars.

They’ve known each other since they were teenagers.

The fun hasn’t left them, even as the trophies, fame and money keep piling up.

Patrick Cantlay, who shot 60 on the PGA Tour the summer after his freshman year at UCLA, won six skins from Thomas and Jordan Spieth with a routine par. Thomas was far more interested in a side bet with Michael Greller, who caddied for Thomas and then Spieth when they were amateurs, and left his job as a sixth-grade math teacher to work for Spieth when he turned pro.

The challenge was for Thomas to make par using only an 8-iron.

Once he got it in..

Rory McIlroy is at Carnoustie this week as one of the favorites to win the 2018 British Open. Also at Carnoustie? A Rory McIlroy lookalike. And he's helping to keep people from mixing up the two by wearing this perfect t-shirt during a Tuesday practice round:
https://twitter.com/eamonlynch/status/1019159217947758593
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That's mighty kind of the young man, who really does bear a striking resemblance to the four-time major champ. See for yourself:
FacebookPinterestAlso helpful? Wearing a Srixon hat instead of being decked out in Nike gear.
So between the hat, the shirt, and, oh yeah, the fact he isn't walking inside the ropes, fans shouldn't have much of a problem keeping the two straight. Anyway, just wanted to alert everyone of this super, super important situation in Scotland. OK, carry on. . .
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CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) Patrick Reed would figure to be a player British fans love to hate, largely due to his passionate play for the other side in the Ryder Cup.

But at least one Scot found something to like Tuesday as the Masters champion tried a variety of shots in a British Open practice round on the links of Carnoustie before hitting a Scottish-like punch 6-iron that ran some 100 yards on the ground before ending up next to the pin on the 16th green.

”That’s the one!” the fan shouted, drawing a smile and a thumbs-up from Reed.

The shot was another indication that the baked-out links of Carnoustie plays entirely different than the lushly manicured fairways of Augusta National, where Reed had his breakthrough win in April to claim the green jacket.

But it’s not like Reed believes he’s not prepared to win a second major and establish himself as one of the big threats in golf. He talked after his practice round about his wife and the team he has put together to do just that.

”..

Patrick Reed's 'shush' moment at the 2014 Ryder Cup didn't alienate him with Scottish golf fans, but endeared him to them. In turn, he's warmed to links golf

The origins of Jim Nantz's first column with Golf Digest.

It's a shame that the 1999 British Open finished the way it did, and not just for Jean van de Velde's sake.