Brooks Koepka has put all of his rivals on notice ahead of The Masters by suggesting that he has changed the club he thinks cost him up to seven shots at the Valspar Championship.
Koepka is certainly going to be one of the contenders to win The Masters next month. The five-time major champion has twice finished second at Augusta National during his career.
He appears to be finding form at an ominous time for those hoping to win the Green Jacket. Koepka has registered three top 20 finishes in a row on the PGA Tour.
He is also leading the PGA Tour in strokes gained approach. It has been a rapid improvement considering that he finished outside the top 50 at the Farmers Insurance Open and missed the cut at the WM Phoenix Open.
Brooks Koepka says he has made a change to his bag before the Houston Open
Koepka flirted with contending at the Valspar this past week. But two rounds of 71 over the weekend put paid to his hopes of a first tour win since 2023.
It seems that he has made a substantial change to his bag ahead of this week’s Texas Children’s Houston Open.
Speaking about the form he has found, Koepka suggested that he will be using a new driver at Memorial Park.
“Yeah, it started right after Waste Management. I think that was kind of the breaking point of the frustration of, it’s been two-plus years of poor putting and poor mechanics. Just reset all that. Obviously the putter change, and then a lot of mechanical work. Spent quite a bit of time with Mike just grinding on it and really fine tuning everything,” he said.
“The strokes gained for the iron play, the iron play’s been great. Driver wasn’t great, but I think that driver head was a little mashed. We checked it out on TrackMan yesterday and it was a bit spiny, so I don’t know if it had a little crack in it or something was going wrong with it. We’ve got that sorted now. That cost me easily six, seven shots last week.
“But I love the way I’m playing. Just want to put myself in contention here for the first time before Augusta.”
All aspects of Koepka’s game are moving in the right direction ahead of The Masters
Koepka has been the game’s ultimate prizefighter over the last decade. His form leading into the majors has almost been irrelevant to how he has performed at the biggest events of the year.
It could be a game-changer if his driving improves this week. He is already 67th on the PGA Tour for strokes gained off the tee, so he is still better than average in that category.
He gained more than half a shot on the field with his putter at the Valspar Championship. It really does appear that all aspects of his game are moving in the right direction at a considerable rate.
And there are not many players who would be better-equipped to handle the occasion should he put himself in contention to win The Masters next month.
