Brooks Koepka returned to the PGA Tour this week. The five-time major winner looked a bit rusty, but made the cut on the number to play the weekend.
“I just wanted to play four rounds,” Koepka said on Friday at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Koepka will be the first one to tell you that he hasn’t played Brooks Koepka golf over the past year-plus. He was a non-factor at the four majors last year and hasn’t really been heard from on the big stage since his 2023 PGA Championship win at Oak Hill. During his pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday, Koepka wouldn’t place the blame for his un-Brooks-like play at the feet of LIV Golf or the league’s schedule. He’s the one who hasn’t been executing. Plain and simple.
Kopeka said he’s looking forward to competing back on the PGA Tour and measuring himself against Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy more than four times a year. That means a lot to golf’s great alpha. But competitive enthusiasm was secondary to Koepka’s primary reason for breaking with LIV Golf and engineering his return to the PGA Tour.
“Just my family,” Koepke said pre-tournament about the biggest factor in his return. “A lot’s gone on over the past five, six months with my family. That played a big role into coming back.
“Just having my family around’s really important. I’ve grown up a lot over the last few years and especially the last few months. Just being able to be close to them is super important to me.”
So, Koepka went out Thursday at Torrey Pines and shot a one-over 73 on the South Course. He drove it poorly (six of 14 fairways) and lost 1.469 shots on the greens. There was no resounding statement from Koepka’s first 18 holes back. Golf is a sport about consistent success. One poor or mediocre round here and there means little in the big picture. Whether Koepka can return to his major-championship-killing form will be determined in the months to come.
But it’s what came after his first PGA Tour round in almost three years that spoke volumes.
Koepka said in the lead-up to the first round that he was nervous. Nervous to face the media, the fans and some of the PGA Tour members that might still be upset with his initial decision to leave for LIV Golf. On the surface, that doesn’t fit with the Koepka who famously cared little about anything other than winning majors. The brash, swaggering major champion rarely entertained the opinions of others.
So, what gives? Growing up — as Koepka put it — becoming a father and going through the peaks and valleys of life off the course has a way of giving you perspective. The passage of time has a way of easing all things.
“Just because I care,” Koepka said after the first round. “I think I’ve fallen back in love with the game. And honestly, watching my son play a little bit and wanting to be able to see him watch me, or I guess want him to watch me play well and realize how much this game’s given me, how fun it is and how cool it is to just be out here.”
Koepka went out Friday needing to find something on the North Course to play the weekend. A four-under 68 got it done. What did it mean? Two more rounds to start the next chapter of Brooks Koepka’s professional life. That’s it.
He was 14 shots behind 36-hole leader Justin Rose. The Brooks Koepka we’ve become accustomed to might find that irritating or see the whole prospect of a January tournament in San Diego as nothing more than practice reps for what matters. It used to be nothing more than a shadfly to temporarily tolerate.
But there was Koepka walking toward the media after his first made PGA Tour cut in almost three years, holding his son, Crew. Cameras caught Koepka asking Crew if he had seen any airplanes or anything cool during his afternoon in Southern California sun. That’s why Koepka wanted to come back, for moments like that.
“It was great, it was great,” Koepka said of having his wife and son greet him after he walked off the 18th green. “I don’t know the last time I’ve actually made a cut and they’ve still been there. … It was nice to have them out there. It felt good. I don’t know, my son doesn’t really know what’s going on, but it’s cool for me to have them here.”
Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour. He’ll play the weekend at Torrey Pines and tee it up next week at the WM Phoenix Open. Those six or eight rounds will be inconsequential to the broader picture, both to Koepka the golfer and Koepka the family man.
It has been said that time is a river. One we go fishing in, and one that events create ripples in — some that dissipate quickly and others whose impact never leaves us.
Brooks Koepka returned to the PGA Tour for his family. As the San Diego sun washed over Brooks and Crew Koepka on Friday, there was a ripple in Koepka’s river — one that might be as meaningful as any major putt.
