Brooks Koepka had been one of the most exciting players in golf for a couple years, but his fortunes began to take a downward spiral when he suffered a knee injury that required surgery. Fortunately, he’s managed to get back on track after a long and painful time off the golf course.
Ahead of this week’s Masters, he’s sat down with us scribes and outlined the gruesome details of his right knee surgery. And while it’s clear he’s still dealing with some pain, he says he’s in a good place at the moment and hopes to be fit enough to play Augusta National by the end of the week.
After a tough year, he’s been in great form this spring and has a chance to win the PGA Championship before the Masters. It’s a big turnaround for Koepka, who has struggled to match his incredible success at major championships in the past two seasons.
As a result, he’s had to re-establish himself as a force to be reckoned with on the golf course and has been able to find his mojo again. He’s even able to win, as evidenced by his second-place finish in the WGC-Workday Championship in February.
The four-time major champion is now ranked 12th in the world, having missed the top 10 for the first time in over two years. He’s also split with long-time coach Claude Harmon III and has been struggling with his swing.
In a recent interview with CNN, Koepka reflected on how difficult it had been to deal with all the injuries that have taken their toll on him. He said he’s learned to accept that his body is not the same as it once was and that he’ll have to work hard to overcome them in order to stay competitive.
But he also said that his surgeon was very confident of his recovery because he’d treated the likes of Kobe Bryant and Tom Brady. It was a huge confidence boost for the 30-year-old who’d been struggling with his health for so long.
While he had to endure surgery, he says that his recovery was relatively easy because of the intense rehab he went through after his knee injury. He also says that his mobility has increased a lot and that he can play more than he could before.
The PGA Championship is the final major of the season and Koepka is hoping to make it his third straight win at this year’s tournament. He’s a strong contender for the title but will need to perform at his best to have any chance of claiming it.
When Koepka slipped on wet concrete during a practice round at the CJ Cup in Florida a few weeks ago, he suffered ligament damage to his right knee and dislocated his knee cap. He then had surgery to repair the ligament damage and re-locate his knee cap.