PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Following lackluster starts to begin his comeback to the PGA Tour, Brooks Koepka looked much more comfortable on his way to his first top-10 finish on Tour since 2023.
After another shaky start at the Cognizant Classic, Koepka played his final 54 holes in 13 under and was tied for seventh when he completed his final-round 65 at PGA National.
The turnaround following a tie for 56th at the Farmers Insurance Open and a missed cut the next week at the WM Phoenix Open was much more consistent play on the greens. For the week, Koepka finished 15th in strokes gained: putting, picking up nearly three shots on the field. At Torrey Pines he lost more than seven shots to the field on the greens and at TPC Scottsdale it was more than 3 ½ shots lost.
“It’ll carry over for sure. Honestly, it was just the putter. Because I wasn’t making any putts, I felt like I had to hit it to tap-in, so it was putting pressure on the iron play, maybe being more aggressive off the tee. It was kind of backfiring that way,” said Koepka, who was reinstated as a Tour member from LIV Golf via the circuit’s Returning Member Program in January. “To be able to make a few of those putts, you can kind of build a rhythm and build momentum. It was a huge thing. I think Thursday night was a bit of a breakthrough.”
Koepka isn’t qualified for the Tour’s signature events like next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational and his next start will be The Players Championship, which he last played in 2022.
“I would assume probably get up [to TPC Sawgrass] Monday around lunchtime, would be my guess. I mean, it’s a good week. It’s fun. Probably just get acclimated to everything again,” Koepka said. “I don’t know, have they overseeded? It’s probably playing a little bit different than the last time I played. It would have been ’22, maybe. I just remember it was blowing a hoolie that day. I remember going to 17 and debating about hitting a 5-iron. Hopefully it plays a little different this year.”
Koepka can play his way into the signature events via the Aon Next 10 and Swing 5 lists. His finish at PGA National is projected to lift him more than 50 spots on both points lists and solid finishes in his next two starts at TPC Sawgrass and the Masters, which he is qualified to play, could pave the way for him to compete in the circuit’s biggest events.