Brooks Koepka found something he was missing – just in time for the PGA

Brooks Koepka has been looking for something since winning the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill. That week in Rochester, Koepka returned to his big-kill ways. He was fit, his game was firing on all cylinders, his confidence was high.

Since that fifth major win, however, Brooks Koepka has watched his game dip while at LIV Golf. His major performances in 2024 and 2025 were below his peak. His poor putting was a source of frustration, and Brooks Koepka was not happy. He was playing rough and spending a lot of time away from his family because of LIV's world tour, and he and his wife, Jena Sims, suffered a miscarriage last year. The desire to spend more time with his family is the reason that prompted Koepka to return to the PGA Tour in January.

“Just my family. A lot has happened in the last five, six months with my family. That played a big part in the comeback,” Koepka said at Torrey Pines in January. Sims and their son, Crew, have been able to get off the road a bit more with Koepka back on the PGA Tour and Brooks Koepka has been quietly playing good golf. It hasn't all come together yet. The putter remains the sticking point. He hasn't played at the Signature events yet, but he's been close.

Brooks Koepka has been getting back to his old self. Little by little, little by little. Finally, on Saturday, in a tournament Koepka might not have had on his radar to start the season, it all came together when the five-time major champion shot a back-nine 29 to win the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic. It was Koepka's first 29 on the PGA Tour since the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges in 2019. And, most importantly, he gave Brooks Koepka something he was missing.

“That's the most fun I've had playing golf in a long, long time,” Koepka said after his round. “I can tell you that much. I'll go all the way back to '23, the PGA. That's the most – it's been a long time since I've had fun playing golf. I was very frustrated last year. I just wasn't in a good place, but I think a lot of times when you – you're like anybody, right? If they're happy off the golf course, I think the golf course is playing well, I think the golf course is part of it, and I got that.

“Restore my joy, my love with a game. All the pieces are connected. Now I must go out and play.”

Koepka finished T12 at the Masters while Rory McIlroy continued his title defense and eclipsed Koepka for his sixth major title. The following week saw Koepka sitting at the RBC Heritage as the first player, hoping to earn a tee time. It didn't come. He and Shane Lowry missed the cut at the team's Zurich Classic, while Koepka failed to make the cut at the Cadillac Championship.

But with the PGA Championship next week at Aronimink, Koepka took to the course at Myrtle Beach to make sure he had time to fine tune his game. He has been waiting to hear all the way. His iron game has been very good in the last two months. But he suffered a driver problem that he fixed at the Masters and hasn't found the success that comes with a flatstick.

Koepka said “good golf” will take care of everything. It will get him into Signature Events and put him in the right place to win more majors. The type of golf Koepka has been hunting for arrived at Myrtle Beach on Saturday, and it could portend something big on the horizon. Finally, everything is starting to look good for Brooks Koepka on the eve of his second golf tournament – one he has won three times and will be hosted on a burly, north-east course that should suit his eye and game.

After his 65 Saturday, Koepka stood at the microphone in Myrtle Beach, an event that seemed inconceivable six months ago, and smiled as he talked about a much-needed round in an unlikely place. Confidence oozed from golf's top hunter as he looked to the future – Sunday and next week at Aronimink.

“I'm very happy. It's going to be something I've been looking forward to for a long time,” Koepka said. “I feel like I've been knocking on the door, it's so close. It's one episode here, one episode there.

In a week when golfers battle it out in Charlotte, Brooks Koepka went to Myrtle Beach in need, and he may have found the last piece needed to bring back to life the happy, impulsive, and swashbuckling old killer.