Brooks Koepka expressed confidence that his game has returned to major-winning form ahead of the Texas Children’s Houston Open and the Masters. He cited strong ball-striking and improved putting after recent adjustments. Koepka aims to test himself in contention this week at Memorial Park Golf Course.
Brooks Koepka returned to the PGA Tour in late January with a T56 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, where he was positive in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, Approach and Around the Greens despite losing over seven shots on the greens. After missing the cut at the WM Phoenix Open, he switched putters and posted finishes of T9, T13 and T18 during the Florida Swing. Last week at the Valspar Championship, Koepka ranked third in Strokes Gained: Approach and leads the PGA Tour this season with 1.089 strokes gained per round in that category, though a driver issue cost him six or seven shots and left him seven behind winner Matt Fitzpatrick. A few weeks earlier, he tied for 13th at the Players Championship, gaining nearly seven shots on approach. Koepka told reporters Wednesday ahead of the Houston Open that his game feels ready for Augusta National in two weeks. “Everything’s trending in a nice direction. Ball-striking feels really, really good. Pete [Cowen]’s done a phenomenal job just getting everything where it needs to be,” he said. He described his style as “conservatively aggressive,” hitting the center of greens patiently like during his strong runs in 2017 and 2019. While pleased with his progress since leaving LIV Golf, Koepka noted one gap: no weekend contention yet in his PGA Tour comeback. “The only thing is I really haven’t put myself in contention with nine holes to go,” he said. “I just need to get the juices flowing of having a chance to win a golf tournament.” He views this week’s event at the Memorial Park course, which he helped redesign, as key preparation for his sixth major title pursuit.
