Five-time major champion Brooks Koepka has fallen in love again with the “grind” of PGA Tour life. He also feels “in total control” of his game, both of which should worry his Tour players as the season heads into summer.
Unlike most of the stars competing in last week’s PGA Championship (with the exception of Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth), Koepka is not cooling off following the second major tournament of the year. Covering it in this week’s CJ Cup 2026 Byron Nelson.
Due to the penalties he accepted to allow his PGA Tour comeback, Koepka needs to play whenever he is eligible as he tries to move up the FedEx Cup ladder to qualify for the PGA Tour’s major events.
It’s a big departure from his years with LIV Golf, when Koepka only had to worry about qualifying for the majors.
But as well as providing updates on his game and the PGA Tour grind during a pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday, Koepka also revealed another way PGA Tour players have a “huge advantage” over their LIV Golf counterparts.
Brooks Koepka reveals ‘new love’ on PGA Tour return: ‘Enjoying the grind’
This week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch marks the 11th start of Koepka’s remarkable PGA Tour comeback, made possible by the newly created (and short-lived) Returning Member Program.
A major factor in Koepka’s deal is that he was unable to receive a sponsor’s exemption from Signature events this year. If he wants to play in the big tournaments of the Tour, he has to play his way.
“Every week is a new beginning for me, and obviously I have my penalty I’m not allowed to play in all the events, and if I get a chance to meet, I want to play,” said Koepka on Wednesday in Texas.
As the season progressed, Koepka worked his way closer to the promised land of the Signature Event. He earned a top-10 finish at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches in February and had strong finishes at the Players Championship (T13), the Masters (T12) and the ONEFlight Myrtle Beach Classic (T11), which was contested the same week as the Truist Championship, a Signature Event.
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That moved him up to 69th in the FedEx Cup standings. The top 50 are automatic qualifiers for all Signature Events, and Koepka is a distant second in the Aon Next 10, another path to those tournaments.
Rather than complain about having to grind it out as a Tour rookie, however, Koepka revealed that he has “fallen back in love” with the experience.
“I’ve said it a few times, I’m back in love with this. I enjoy grinding. I enjoy fighting here,” Koepka said Wednesday. “Yeah, it’s a new found love, a new love for this sport, and it’s something I really, really enjoy getting back on the road and grinding it out and trying to find it in the dirt. I think there’s something to be said for that.”
He added: “Each week is getting more and more fun, and I’m really enjoying it.”
His increasingly strong results help in that regard, no doubt. According to Koepka, his improved finishing is a direct result of his game rotating into form.
“I’m driving the ball very well. I feel like I’m in complete control. Since Augusta, when we noticed the setting was B1 and we changed it back to A1 for that driver, I can work with both. The flight is good, very good. The iron play has been good,” Koepka said. “I feel like I have complete control of my golf ball – the position, the spin, the trajectory, everything seems to be right where I need it to be. It’s just a matter of rolling those putts.”
With another top finish this week, Koepka could finally make it to the Signature Events. But even if he doesn’t, he’s already qualified for next month’s most important tournament: the 2026 US Open at Shinnecock Hills. Koepka, a two-time US Open champion, claimed his second title at Shinnecock in 2018.
Koepka says access to gear on PGA Tour is superior to LIV: ‘Sometimes I didn’t know anything’
“The grind” isn’t the only thing Koepka is enjoying about his PGA Tour return. On Wednesday, he also shared another way his life on Tour is better than his time at LIV Golf: the equipment.
Specifically, Koepka explained that his access to new equipment on the PGA Tour, for testing purposes and mid-tournament maintenance, is much better than his access to gear at LIV Golf events.
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“Yeah, it’s completely different, like I said, just being able to see everything different – having so many options, maybe it’s frustrating, at the same time, because access to machine trucks, grip changes, things like that, sometimes I didn’t know about it four, five years ago. During the big games it was the only time you saw it,” Koepka
He continued: “So to come back here and get the chance that if you need to make a small change to something, it’s very easy, or you’re hurting the club during the game, to find a replacement, change a shaft, whatever it may be.”
He went on to describe the PGA Tour’s equipment treatment as a “huge advantage” over LIV Golf.
“More access to everything, I think it’s been a huge benefit,” he said. “I’m not going to do a lot of that. I know I’m changing putters every week now, but as far as all the equipment I have, I’m very satisfied with it. I’m very happy with it.”
As for whether other LIV Golfers have called Koepka for advice on returning to the PGA Tour, Koepka said no. The reason? He changed his phone number.
“I changed my number a long time ago, so I don’t think many guys have my number, which is good,” Koepka said. “So I didn’t have to worry too much about that.”
;)
