Brooks Koepka makes worrying admission over PGA Championship defence after 'wasted' Masters showing
Brooks Koepka has admitted he has concerns about being able to defend his PGA Championship crown at Valhalla this month, having failed to make his mark at the Masters.
Koepka will head to Valhalla as defending champion, after winning the event for a third time at Oak Hill last May. The LIV Golf star returned to the major arena in April for the Masters, bidding to win his sixth flagship title and his first green jacket around Augusta National.
Things did not go to plan for the Smash GC captain though, as he finished 20 shots behind eventual champion Scottie Scheffler, ending the week in a tie for 45th at nine-over-par across his 72 holes.
Koepka had previously revealed to Mirror Sport that he had began preparing for the trip to Augusta back in December in order to put himself in the best shape possible to end his wait for a Masters win. Speaking at LIV Singapore this week, he feels his showing in April wasted his four-month plan.
Asked how he felt about his game and chances of defending at Valhalla this month, Koepka said: “Clearly not very good, with Augusta the way that it went. I kind of felt like I wasted all the time from December until then. Just keep grinding away, keep doing the work, and hopefully something will turn around.”
The five-time major champion is in Singapore this week, looking to recapture his form with major No. 2 of the year looming. In recent weeks Koepka has gone through a change to his setup after switching out putters, but claims he is still struggling to find his best on the greens.
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Brooks Koepka is in action at the Masters
“[The mallet putter had] been in the bag two weeks before Augusta,” he commented. “I haven’t even putted with that other putter, the one I’ve putted with for — the button back that I’ve putted with for probably 12, 14 years, I haven’t putted with it since then. I can’t find the hole at all, to be honest with you.
“Something we’ve just been putting some work into, so trying to find some answers.” Asked what is the issue behind his putting woes, he added: “[The] ball doesn’t go in the hole, that is usually one of them. I don’t know how else to simply put it. I feel like I’m hitting good putts, they just keep burning lips.
“Eventually it starts to wear on you after a while. All you can do is hit a good putt and see where it goes from there. Hopefully they start falling soon.” Having won two LIV events in his first two seasons on the breakaway circuit, Koepka has failed to find his best form so far in 2024.
The Smash skipper currently finds himself 16th in the individual standings, with his best performance coming at the season-opener at Maykoba where he finished in a tie for fifth. Since then Koepka has broke into the top ten on just one occasion, finishing last week’s event in Adelaide in tied-ninth.