Koepka improves by 10 shots on back 9 during wild round of 72

One of the things that set professional golfers apart from the recreational hacker is their ability to block out negative thoughts following a poor shot and move to the next challenge.

Brooks Kopeka showed that skill to an incredible degree Thursday at the Open Championship, improving on a terrible front-nine 41 by a whopping 10 shots to shoot 4-under 31 on the back and finish at 1-over par for the day.

After birdieing the first hole, Koepka would bogey the fifth before playing the final three holes on the front stretch in 4-over. While many would have packed it in after opening with a 41, Koepka simply rebounded with five birdies on the closing side to sit just six shots off the lead heading to Round 2.

If that sounds familiar, it's because that's the exact deficit the 28-year-old faced after one round at Shinnecock Hills in June before coming back to win his second straight U.S. Open.

Koepka tees off in Round 2 on Friday at 9:58 a.m. local time at Carnoustie.