GREENSBORO, NC – After an erratic performance and missed cut at the Wyndham Championship, something physical is clearly troubling Brooks Koepka. But don’t expect me to tell you what it is.
Koepka was one of the headliners for this week’s event at Sedgefield Country Club, where he made his first appearance since a T-6 result in 2015. But Koepka struggled on the greens on Thursday en route to a 2-over 72, and his brief Recovery attempt in the second lap unraveled with a triple bogey 7 out of 10th hole. Eventually he signed for an all-time 70 round, and on the 2 above he missed the cut by five strokes.
“Not very good,” Koepka said. “It wasn’t good at all.”
Koepka was making his sixth start in as many weeks, but that stretch now includes three missed cuts to go hand in hand with his hesitant arrival at the PGA championship on Sunday. Any hope he had of healing Harding Park’s wounds quickly went out the window this week in Sedgefield, where Koepka’s troubles were seen across the board – he ranked 101st this week in earned hits: off-the-tee and 137th in putting.
Koepka was bothered by a left knee injury for much of the season, undergoing arthroscopic surgery in the fall and aggravating the injury at the CJ Cup in October. Viewers last week saw him pause his lap at some point to stretch his left hip with a trainer during the course, and on Friday he spent time during waits and backups stretching his back and trying to stay loose. .
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Koepka specified that his left knee is not the main cause of his current problems, but he also confirmed that he had trouble climbing on the left side during the second round.
“This is physical, yes. I know how to do it, I can do it, I just can’t do it physically, “Koepka said.” My swing is fine. If I can do it physically, then yeah, it’s okay. “
Koepka embodies the persona of an athlete, and on Friday he sounded more like a hockey player than a golfer – it’s not a knee problem or hip pain, it’s simply an injury to the lower body. Further details would not come, except that Koepka reiterated that he did not consider retiring and did not understand his commitment after solidifying his playoff status with a runner-up last month in Memphis.
“I’m not giving up,” Koepka said. “I told (tournament director) Mark (Brazil), I told everyone I was going to be here, so I’ll finish it. Even if we had a delayed rain and came back tomorrow to finish a hole, I would have been here. “
Instead he’s on his way home to fix – well, something. Koepka will make his seventh consecutive start next week at the opening of the playoffs at TPC Boston, where he will start the week off the top 90. Only the top 70 will advance to the BMW championship the following week, which means he will have significant work to do if he intends to extend his season in Chicago or perhaps East Lake for the season-ending Tour Championship.
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