Did Brooks Koepka just figure something out on the greens?
Koepka’s putter came alive Friday morning at PGA National, where Koepka fired a 5-under 66, his best round in a non-major PGA Tour event in almost four years.
A day after missing seven putts inside of 12 feet and ranking 111th in the 123-man field in strokes gained putting, Koepka had gained nearly four shots on the greens on Friday when he wrapped up play around lunchtime, ranking third in the field at that moment. He missed just two putts inside 12 feet in Round 2 while making putts of 14, 16, 17, 21 and 32 feet, four of those being for birdie and three of them coming in a three-hole stretch, starting at the par-4 11th, Koepka’s second hole of the day.
Prior to Friday, Koepka had broken 70 only three times in his last 25 official PGA Tour rounds. Koepka’s second-round 66 is his best round on Tour since he carded 66 in the final round of the 2024 PGA Championship and his best non-major round on Tour since a final-round 65 at the 2022 Valspar Championship.
“I just need to play like I did the first day and then putt like I did today,” said Koepka, who entered the week ranked second-to-last on Tour in strokes gained putting, at No. 171, ahead of only rookie Marcelo Rozo. “I have a feeling the putting will come around. But just been hitting it really good. Just nice to see a red number.”
Koepka told reporters than after he wrapped interviews on Thursday afternoon, he headed to the practice green and filmed a few videos to send to his putting coach, Jeff Pierce. They then spent 15 minutes on the phone chatting about the footage before Koepka put in about a half-hour of work.
The discovery was that Koepka was “cheating” his hand position at setup, which slightly altered his stroke.
“I’m not getting as handsy, and I was cheating it by getting my hands back, and it just was creating an inconsistent feel, or where I thought it was taking off, it wasn’t,” Koepka explained. “Once I got them forward, I felt like I really saw the line a lot better and could see where visually it’s got to take off on the right line. They weren’t matching yesterday.”
This is Koepka’s second made cut in three starts since rejoining the Tour after four years with LIV Golf. He tied for 56th at the Farmers Insurance Open before missing the weekend at the WM Phoenix Open. He was not qualified for the last two tournaments, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational, both signature events.
Koepka, who sits at 2 under, was asked Friday if battling his way back inside the cut line after an opening 74 was a “small win.”
“No,” Koepka responded. “If I’m out here to try to make cuts, I’m probably done.”
That’s the Koepka that we know.