Brooks Koepka has been telling us he’s been hitting the ball well.
At last week’s PGA Championship he did.
“Everything feels fine. I like the way I’m striking it.”
Two weeks ago at the One Flight Myrtle Beach Classic, he said much the same thing.
“I feel like I’m striking it as good as I ever have, driving it as good as I ever have.”
Last month at the Masters, he said something similar.
“I feel like I’m striking it exactly the way I wanted to.”
In late March at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, Koepka repeated himself.
“I feel like I’ve been playing really well.”
And in March at the Valspar Championship, Koepka, you guessed it, said he felt he was hitting the ball well.
“Playing well, like the way I’m striking it.”
That all said, there are a couple ways to look at Koepka here. In his first year back on the PGA Tour after playing for four seasons with LIV Golf, he’s swinging well. If he’s felt distracted by the move back, that mostly hasn’t shown. But there’s also some thought of what could be. Because for as well as he has been swinging, his putter has confounded him. He’s been good, if not great, in all of the strokes gained stats — eighth in tee to green; 41st off the tee; third in approach the green; 48th in around the green — except putting, where he was ranked a ghastly 141st entering this week. What if he could put everything together? What would that look like?
Maybe something like Thursday.
Just look at Koepka during Thursday’s first round of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson event. On the 11th hole at TPC Craig Ranch, his second hole of the day after starting on the back nine, he dropped a 17-footer for birdie, then he sunk a 13-footer for eagle on the 12th hole, then a 10-footer for birdie on the 2nd hole, then a 14-footer for birdie on the 4th hole, and Koepka walked off with an eight-under 63, and just Taylor Moore was better. It was Koepka’s best score this year, and his best score on the PGA Tour since July 30, 2020, when he shot a 62 at the FedEx St. Jude Invitational. (On Aug. 18, 2024, Koepka shot a 63 at LIV Golf’s Greenbrier event.)
Few at the Byron Nelson were better on the greens. Koepka was 10th in strokes gained: putting after the first round, and a day-long session earlier this week inside “a little warehouse” at his home in Florida seems to have worked. Inside the warehouse is a putting studio, and Koepka locked himself in, leaving only to pick up his son, Crew, from school.
“So I was in there for quite a while working on some different things, trying some different putters,” Koepka said Wednesday. “Just going back to basics, I think is a huge thing, trying to make sure you’re lined up, your grip is correct, your putter is aimed where you think it’s aimed.
“Just little different things.”
He also emerged with a new putter. At the Byron Nelson, Koepka is using a Scotty Cameron Fastback 1.5, which, notably, is the fourth putter he’s used this year.
“It’s something that just feels good in my hands,” Koepka said. “I feel like I’ve struggled with the toe release a little bit, kind of fighting that, kind of holding it off, and this putter seems to have a little bit more toe hang, to get kind of scientific with it or more in depth on it. It’s got a bit more toe hang than what I have been using all year, kind of similar to the blade. I know the CG [center of gravity] is up closer to the front of the face, which is kind of what I’m looking for.
“So hopefully I can just find some confidence with it and build some momentum off of it.”
Of course, Koepka has played only 18 holes this week. Three rounds are ahead. Bigger tournaments follow that, including a pair of majors. Putting is the ficklest of pursuits. What dropped in the hole today may lip out tomorrow.
But for a day, Koepka could say he was hitting AND putting well.
“Finally, I felt good with the putter,” Koepka said. “I felt good the last few days with it when I was working in my studio. Then when I got here, it felt very comfortable. Rick [caddie Ricky Elliott] said the same thing from watching. Which also kind of helps build a little confidence, what you feel versus the reality of it.
