Key to Brooks Koepka winning a fifth major at 2022 PGA Championship: His putting

TULSA, Okla. — Brooks Koepka’s day got off to a bad start Tuesday when he was about an hour late arriving at Southern Hills Country Club after his keys were locked in his car.

With the vehicle running. And his clubs in the trunk.

Koepka, who blamed putting coach Jeff Pierce, still is not sure how it happened.

“It boggles me,” he said. “I didn’t think a car was supposed to do that but apparently it does.”

With Keygate solved – a spare key was delivered – Koepka was able to get back to the key part of his game that has boggled him of late.

Koepka missed the cut at the Masters and the culprit was his putting. He took off about three weeks and then got to work with his coach.

“Started grinding, working with Jeff on the putting because I felt like that was really what let me down at Augusta and kind of got me frustrated and ended up resulting in some. … just being angry,” he said. “And let it leak over into my swing and the rest of my golf game.”

Now, after withdrawing from last week’s Byron Nelson to make sure he was ready for the PGA, Koepka appears to have that swagger back that—for a two-year stretch—made him one of the most feared big-game players in the sport.

Seven majors ago since Koepka’s last

Koepka won four majors—two PGAs and two U.S. Opens—from 2017-19 and was in contention in several others. But it’s been seven majors since he won one. Although Koepka has gutted through various injuries and stops and starts to log five top 10s in majors since winning the 2019 PGA at Bethpage Black, his world ranking has fluctuated from 15th to 21st this season (he currently is No. 18) after holding the top spot for 47 weeks at one time.

But after a long break – he has not played since the Masters – Koepka geared his schedule with this week in mind.

“I feel ready, and now just got to play good,” he said. “Simple.”

Koepka’s break after the Masters was expected. After all, he and girlfriend Jena Sims have a wedding to plan; they will be married this summer. But the long break between majors was unusual. Typically he plays at least one event.

Much of that time was spent getting reacquainted with his putter and his stroke, whether that meant rolling it in his living room or doing something he said he had never done: watching himself on YouTube.

“I went back and watched video on YouTube of every major championship I’ve ever won and what I was doing when I was putting,” he said. “Picked up on a few different things, a couple things setup-wise, a couple things stroke-wise, just to figure out where the touch was. The touch was a little bit off. Everything just didn’t quite feel right.

“But it’s getting back to what I feel it was, and it looks quite similar to what it was in years past.”

Majors bring out the best in Koepka. No matter what is going on with his game, short of injury, he finds a way to become a factor. He just approaches these weeks differently, something he said he tries to carry over into regular Tour events.

With eight career PGA Tour titles, Koepka has as many wins in majors as he does in non-majors.

“There’s a lot of pressure,” said Koepka, who has a 2:03 p.m. ET tee time for Thursday’s first round. He is grouped with Shane Lowry and Adam Scott.

“There’s more pressure winning a major, so it’s different than a regular Tour event. I think you can see it when we play tougher golf courses, you look at the leaderboard, and then when we play when it’s 30-under par. I think there’s a difference.”

Koepka doesn’t want to talk about Mickelson

Locking in the week of a major is not a problem. That means tunnel vision when it comes to outside distractions – like having your keys locked in your car – or talking about the most discussed subject of the week: Phil Mickelson’s absence.

A year ago, Koepka was paired with Mickelson in the final round of the PGA and finished runner-up, witnessing Mickelson’s historic victory up close. But don’t expect the warm and fuzzy from Koepka. When asked about that final round, Koepka says he gave it away.

Then Koepka was asked how surprised he is that Mickelson decided not to defend his title in wake of his support of the Saudi Arabia-back LIV Golf Series and criticism of the PGA Tour.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t pay attention to what anybody else is doing. I’ve seen articles that he was playing. Then he wasn’t playing. It’s all up to him, man. Whatever he wants to do.”