Confidence with new putter? Check. Three straight top-20 finishes? Check. Being inside the top 5 on a Sunday leaderboard with nine holes to go? Let’s just wait and see.
That’s where Brooks Koepka stands entering the Texas Children’s Houston Open, two weeks ahead of a return to Augusta National — his first major tournament since rejoining the PGA Tour earlier this year.
Koepka, who is coming off a T-18 at the Valspar after a successful stint in his home state of Florida, told reporters Wednesday that he’s made great strides with his short game over the last month despite “putting so terribly” at the start of the season.
“I felt like I had to birdie the hole almost from the fairway or from the tee box, where now I can sit back and kind of play golf how I used to play in ’17, ’19, kind of in that run when I was playing very good where I can be very patient and just kind of wait my time,” he admitted. “I know I’m going to have five good chances on whatever hole it might be and then just take advantage from there.”
Despite never having played this tournament before, Koepka is a betting favorite this week. That’s because he has intimate knowledge in the redesign of Memorial Park having consulted with Giles Kibbe and Jim Crane for the better part of a decade on its competitive setup.
It’s also due to the fact he ranks second on Tour in iron play over the last five tournaments he’s played and that he’s third from tee to green.
“It started right after Waste Management, I think that was kind of the breaking point of the frustration,” he said of missing the cut at TPC Scottsdale in early February. “It’s been two-plus years of poor putting and poor mechanics, and I just reset all that.”
The switch to a mallet putter came before the cut at Phoenix, but Koepka said the weeks off in between that tournament and the Cognizant Classic (where he finished T-9) helped fine tune the mechanics.
Gaining strokes around and on the green raises Koepka’s floor both this week, and for the rest of the season.
He talked about and was asked several times about the upcoming Masters Tournament.
“I just need to get the juices flowing of having a chance to win a golf tournament,” he replied to a question about what another top-20 finish in Houston would mean going into Augusta. “It’s been a while — I didn’t win last year.”
It’s all on the proverbial table for the five-time major winner: deep understanding of where to attack on the course, how to avoid punishing areas, and confidence that he can thrive here over four rounds.
Will it result in what he wants on Sunday in Houston, though?
“I do feel like [my game] is ready,” he said. “The only thing is I really haven’t put myself in contention with nine holes to go. That’s really the last missing piece that I feel like I need to accomplish here before Augusta.”