Brooks Koepka has bid farewell to the Cognizant Classic with two certainties. The first is that he has found a way to be competitive again. The second is that he is ready to fight for victories. The best demonstration is the round of 65 strokes he delivered this Sunday to finish his participation at the Champions course of the PGA National by Jack Nicklaus. It is his best result since he left LIV Golf with a year remaining on his contract and returned to the PGA Tour, giving himself a chance to finish in the top 10. The last time he finished a tournament on the American circuit in the top ten was his victory at the PGA Championship in 2023.
Beyond the numbers, that magnificent 65, six under with seven birdies, five of them in a stretch of six holes, the most important thing for Koepka is the feelings. Everything starts and ends with the putter. That’s why he is convinced he has found the way. He doesn’t beat around the bush. Everything changed on Thursday, during the 45 minutes he spent on the putting green. “I’ve played quite solidly the last three days. Yesterday I didn’t hit particularly well, but I think I’ve controlled the shots much better. And the putter, obviously, has improved. I haven’t looked at the stats, but that little adjustment I made on Thursday night made a huge difference and I finally found some confidence. I think that was the only thing I was missing,” he explains.
We look at the stats for him. On Friday, he was the second-best putter of the tournament, on Saturday he finished in 15th place, and today, Sunday, at the time of writing this report, he was 40th. It’s curious, the day when according to the stats he putted the worst, is when he made the most birdies. The numbers, in the end, don’t explain everything. In reality, today Koepka has signed the best day of the week and since his return to the PGA Tour in shots to the green.
So, dear reader, you might wisely think: that would mean that what has improved are the irons, not so much the putter, don’t you think? Here is where we enter the wonderful and complex world of feelings. Yes, Koepka has been much sharper in approaches to the flag, but in his opinion, it’s all down to the putter. And the explanation makes perfect sense.
“Honestly, it was just the putter. Since I wasn’t making putts, I felt I had to leave it close, so I was putting pressure on the irons and maybe being more aggressive from the tee. That was backfiring. I’ve always said I’m ‘aggressively conservative.’ I try to leave it at 15 feet (four and a half meters). Sometimes you settle for par on a tough hole and make one, like the 9 is the perfect example (he made a 16-foot birdie putt). But being able to make some of those putts allows you to get into a rhythm and generate momentum, and that was huge. I think Thursday night was a small turning point,” he notes.
It can be said louder, but not clearer. Koepka has regained confidence and assures that he is back. He says he is ready to compete for victories. We will soon know if he manages to maintain those feelings, but there is no need to remind how dangerous this man can be when he is sure of himself, which is exactly what he conveyed today at the end of the tournament.
His next stop is not just anything. In two weeks, he plays THE PLAYERS. No one doubts that he will prepare for it thoroughly, working hard on that adjustment of the hand position on the putter that seems to have changed his life. Koepka is looking forward to it. “It’s a good week. It’s fun. I guess it’s about getting acclimated to everything again. I don’t know. Have they reseeded? I really don’t know. So it will probably play a bit differently than the last time I was there (2022). I just remember that day it was blowing a gale. I got to the 17th and was thinking about hitting a 5-iron. So hopefully it plays a bit differently this year.”
