Overall, it was a successful return to the PGA Tour for Brooks Koepka. The five-time major winner made his highly anticipated return at the Farmers Insurance Open, his first competitive action since leaving LIV Golf.
Overall, it was a successful return to the PGA Tour for Brooks Koepka.
The five-time major winner made his highly anticipated return at the Farmers Insurance Open, his first competitive action since leaving LIV Golf. Koepka made the cut, finishing the week T56 at four-under.
But there was one key area preventing Koepka from challenging Justin Rose at the top of the leaderboard. His putting. The American gained strokes on the field in every area except on the greens, where he lost 2.37.
It’s been a problem in his game for a while now, and Koepka is already making changes to his putting in his second PGA Tour event of the year.
Brooks Koepka makes first putting change in 10 years at WM Phoenix Open
Koepka has putted with a Scotty Cameron blade for the better part of 10 years, but ahead of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, he’s finally making a change.
This week in Phoenix, Koepka will be taking to the greens with a TaylorMade Spider Mallet putter, according to the Golf Channel’s Eamon Lynch.
This is a more modern take on the putter by TaylorMade, and it’s the same design used by the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, and Robert MacIntyre. It’s also used by Chris Gotterup, who recently won the Sony Open in Hawaii with it.
All of the world’s best players seem to be transitioning to this putter, and if it can work similar magic for Koepka as it has for them, he’ll be a strong contender to take the win at TPC Scottsdale.
How Brooks Koepka is fixing his putting
Koepka was asked about his poor putting form in a press conference before the Phoenix Open, and he explained the work he’s been putting in over the last week to right the wrongs of Torrey Pines.
He said, “Trying to get the ball in the hole. Just really never felt comfortable over the ball. You’ve got to have everything squared up to the target. Just working on things like that. Real simple stuff, setup. Shoulders were open. My feet are always a little bit open but just trying to minimize the lines crossing so much.
“And yeah, just tried to keep everything more consistent, the face, the path, everything.”
The reporter asked why Koepka is carrying around two of the same putter this week, and he explained: “I just always carry a backup. You never know what’s going to happen. I never get too angry but you never know.
“But no, I’ve been putting pretty poorly for the good side of two years. I don’t know what’s going on but I’ve got to figure it out.”
This putter change is incredibly exciting for those hoping Koepka does well on the PGA Tour, and this is certainly one of the biggest stories to watch this week.
Category: General Sports
