There’s no shortage of storylines around Brooks Koepka this week as he returns for the first time in three years to play his “hometown event,” the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches.
Considerable attention was given to his $5 million charitable donation announced earlier in the week, part of the nine-time Tour winner’s agreement when he joined the Returning Member Program in January.
Then there’s the business surrounding his putter. Koepka switched from a blade to a mallet ahead of the WM Phoenix Open after struggling with his short game at Torrey Pines in his first PGA Tour event since the spring of 2022.
Koepka, who missed the cut at TPC Scottsdale, admitted in his pre-tournament press conference this week that he was still learning how to effectively use the mallet putter in the desert.
“I didn’t know where exactly I was hitting it, and obviously when you change putters, speed becomes another thing, and I felt like the speed was slightly off,” Koepka told reporters Wednesday. “Now I understand exactly where to hit it and where it’s going. I feel like my speed control has gotten better, and just with a few changes, just tidying those things up.”
Despite not making it to the weekend at the WM after making the putter switch, oddsmakers have Koepka as one of the favorites entering the Champion Course at PGA National (he’s currently listed seventh favorite at +2900 to win). Not having to travel does have its advantages.
“It’s definitely weird staying at home, you just get so accustomed to living out of a suitcase or hotel or whatever,” Koepka said of getting to play in his own backyard, at an event in which he’s participated in since he was 9 or 10 years old.
“Growing up here, I came every year. I remember carrying the sign. From [the time] I was 9, 10 years old until probably maybe a junior, senior in high school.”
He played the Cognizant in 2022, finishing T-16 alongside eight other players.
This week’s field lacks star power at the top with just one player (Ryan Gerard) ranked in the top 30 of the Official World Golf Ranking.
Big names or not at the Cognizant, Koepka is more concerning himself with learning everyone who’s in the field — not the quality of the competition based on world ranking.
“There’s probably more guys I’ve just had to introduce myself to, there’s a lot of people I don’t know,” he admitted Wednesday. “I think I remember reading a stat years ago where every four years there’s a 50 percent turnover, something like that. I could be wrong. That could be completely made up, too, so I don’t know. I remember reading that.”
If all goes to plan, Koepka can help use it to leverage his own OWGR placement — he sits No. 263 after his stint on the LIV circuit, a precipitous fall from the No. 1 spot he once held for 38 consecutive weeks beginning in May 2019.
“This is true hometown event,” he said, without putting expectations on where he might finish if he makes the Cognizant cut after 36 holes. “I don’t think anybody in my family or really anybody has got more than like a 25-minute drive.”
“It’s nice to be able to be this close to home and to have everybody come out,” he added. “It’s just enjoyable to see faces you haven’t seen in a long time. Sometimes it’s the only time I see people is when I’m here at this event. It’ll be fun.”