Brooks Koepka has been back on the PGA Tour for nearly a month. Now, his confidence appears to be returning, too.
After opening with a scruffy 74 at this week’s Cognizant Classic, Koepka rebounded with a second-round 66 to make the cut on the number, then carried that momentum into the weekend with his sharpest play since returning to Tour competition. On Sunday, he posted a 6-under 66 — tied for the low round of the day — an encouraging step foward as the five-time major champion seeks to regain his winning form.
The biggest difference showed up on the greens.
Koepka needed just 18 putts through his first 16 holes Sunday and finished the round with 23 total despite a disappointing three-putt for par on the par-5 finisher. It was a key turnaround for a player who said his poor putting had been bleeding into other parts of his game.
“Honestly, it was just the putter,” Koepka said. “I wasn’t making any putts, I felt like I had to hit it to tap-in distance, and that was putting pressure on everything else.”
Seeing a few putts fall this week allowed him to return to what he calls a “conservatively aggressive” approach — trusting targets, accepting pars on difficult holes and allowing his confidence to grow naturally.
“To be able to make a few of those putts, you can build a rhythm and build momentum,” he said.
The progress marks a welcome sign for Koepka, who has returned to the PGA Tour as something of a prodigal son — the first marquee player to come back after leaving for LIV Golf. His reinstatement came through the Tour’s new Returning Member Program, which opened a pathway back with provisos.
Among the conditions: a $5 million charitable contribution, ineligibility for the Tour’s player equity program for five years, and the requirement that Koepka play his way into signature events rather than rely on sponsor exemptions. A portion of that donation, including $1 million directed to the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation, is tied to this week’s Cognizant Classic.
Since returning to the PGA Tour, Koepka has seen mixed results, starting with a T56 at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and a missed the cut at the WM Phoenix Open.
Koepka, though, is known for saving his best for golf’s biggest stages, and two are fast-approaching: the Players Championship and, soon after, the year’s first major at Augusta National.
He’s in a position to look ahead, now that an adjustment period is behind him
“I think a lot of that was the first week,” Koepka said of his return to the Tour. “Once you get inside the ropes, it feels natural. Getting all the media stuff out of the way was huge, and now it’s just a matter of going to play and build a rhythm.”
