Brooks Koepka would like to leave TPC Craig Ranch at peace with his putter.
But if he has to go back to his studio in Florida and make more tweaks, he certainly will.
Consider Koepka a bit putter obsessed these days. After switching from a blade to a mallet head ahead of the WM Phoenix Open in February, Koepka revealed to reporters ahead of this week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson that he was indeed making another change: This time to a Scotty Cameron Fastback 1.5.
“Hopefully I can just kind of [get] some confidence with it and build some momentum off of it,” said Koepka, who’s coming off a T-55 finish in the PGA Championship at Aronimink. “I look back at last week, which I’m very kind of annoyed with because I kind of let the last couple holes get away from me just from maybe a little bit of anger or annoyance, maybe more of an annoyance thing, of not making any putts and feeling like you’ve got to go at flags. I had no business going at that flag on 17. Aiming right at it was stupid.”
Koepka said the new putter, which he believe he used at least once previously while playing for LIV Golf, gives him the feel of a blade and has a little bit more toe hang.
"[The switch] this week is for something I feel like released on its own, something I’ve been trying to — been fighting a little bit, and I feel like it definitely releases a little bit,” he explained.
The putting struggles at the PGA came just one week after Koepka finished T-11 at the Myrtle Beach Classic, where he said he felt the most excited playing golf in years after posting a third-round 64.
He said the last two days have been strictly about “going back to basics” while at home in South Florida.
“Trying to make sure you’re lined up, your grip is correct, your putter is aimed where you think it’s aimed,” he said. “Just little different things.”
Koepka recalled dropping off his son at school in the morning this week and staying in his putting studio all day before going back to pick him back up in the afternoon.
“Just try to fix the problem,” he told reporters Wednesday. “I was in there for quite a while working on some different things, trying some different putters.”
Course overhaul advantage?
Koepka was asked if playing on a completely overhauled TPC Craig Ranch — where no player has true course familiarity — could be an advantage given the state of his struggling short game.
“It can be a bit of both,” he said. “The way I look at it, if you hit it close enough, you don’t have to worry about putting.”
“Sometimes you have a little bit of history or like mental history of, ‘Oh, if I hit it here, this ball might roll or slope a little bit closer to the hole,’ and it doesn’t anymore,” he added. “So sometimes it can be an advantage, sometimes it can be a disadvantage. It just kind of depends.”
Despite the issues in and around the flagstick, Koepka emphasized he’s comfortable with the status of his game coming off the year’s second major and called his iron play “fantastic.”
The five-time major winner finished T-12 at the Masters, one of five top-18 finishes since rejoining the Tour in January.
“I know maybe last week the stats didn’t quite say that they were as good as they were, but it’s also tough,” he explained. “Do you get a lie in the rough, and are you able to advance it versus some of the pins last week you weren’t able to aim it.”
“But I feel like I’m in complete control of my golf ball — shape, spin, trajectory, everything seems to be right where I need it to be,” he added. “It’s just a matter of rolling those putts in.”
