Five-time major champion Brooks Koepka has fallen back in love with “the grind” of PGA Tour life. He also feels “in complete control” of his game, both of which should worry his fellow Tour players as the season careens toward the summer.
Unlike many of the stars who contended at last week’s PGA Championship (with the exceptions of Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth), Koepka is taking no time off following the second major of the year. He’s teeing it up at this week’s 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
Due to the penalties he accepted to enable his PGA Tour return, Koepka needs to play whenever he’s eligible as he tries to work his way up the FedEx Cup rankings to qualify for the PGA Tour’s biggest events.
It’s a big departure from his years with LIV Golf, where Koepka only had to worry about qualifying for majors.
But along with providing updates on his game and the PGA Tour grind during his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday, Koepka also revealed one way in which the PGA Tour players have a “huge advantage” over their LIV Golf counterparts.
Brooks Koepka reveals ‘newfound love’ in PGA Tour return: ‘Enjoying the grind’
This week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch represents the 11th start of Koepka’s surprising PGA Tour return, made possible through the newly formed (and short-lived) Returning Member Program.
A big catch in Koepka’s deal was that he could not accept sponsor’s exemptions into Signature Events this year. If he wants to play in the Tour’s biggest tournaments, he has to play his way in.
“Every week is a new fresh start for me, and I’m obviously with my penalty I’m not allowed to play every event, and if I get the chance to tee up, I want to play,” Koepka said on Wednesday in Texas.
As the season has advanced, Koepka’s worked his way closer and closer to the Signature Event promised land. He earned a top 10 at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches in February and put up solid finishes at the Players Championship (T13), the Masters (T12) and at the ONEFlight Myrtle Beach Classic (T11), which was contested the same week as the Truist Championship, a Signature Event.
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That’s moved him up to 69th in the FedEx Cup standings. The top 50 automatically qualify for all Signature Events, and Koepka is just a few spots away from the Aon Next 10, another pathway into those tournaments.
Rather than complain about having to grind it out like a Tour rookie, though, Koepka revealed that he’s “fallen back in love” with the experience.
“I’ve mentioned it a couple times, I’ve kind of fallen back in love with this. I’m enjoying the grind. I’m enjoying battling it out here,” Koepka said on Wednesday. “Yeah, it’s just a newfound love, a newfound passion for the game, and something that I’m really, really enjoying being back on the road and grinding it out and trying to find it in the dirt. I think there’s something to be said about that.”
He added: “Each week is becoming more and more fun, and I very much enjoy that.”
His increasingly solid results help with that, no doubt. According to Koepka, his improved finishes are a direct result of his game rounding into form.
“I’m driving the ball fantastic. I feel like I’m in complete control. Ever since Augusta, where we noticed the setting was at B1 and we switched it back to A1 on that driver, I can work it both ways. The flight’s very, very good. Iron play’s been fantastic,” Koepka said. “I feel like I’m in complete control of my golf ball — shape, spin, trajectory, everything seems to be right where I need it to be. It’s just a matter of rolling those putts in.”
With another high finish this week, Koepka could finally gain access to the Signature Events. But even if he doesn’t, he’s already qualified for next month’s most important tournament: the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Koepka, a two-time U.S. Open champion, captured his second title at Shinnecock in 2018.
Koepka says gear access on PGA Tour superior to LIV: ‘Sometimes I wasn’t privy’
The “grind” is not 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 on LIV Golf: equipment.
Specifically, Koepka explained that his access to new equipment on the PGA Tour, for testing purposes and mid-tournament adjustments, is far better than his gear access was at LIV Golf events.
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“Yeah, it’s totally different, like I said, just being able to see all the different — just to have so many options, it’s maybe a little bit overwhelming, at the same time, because access to equipment trucks, grip changes, things like that, sometimes I wasn’t privy to over the last four, five years. During majors was kind of the only time you saw it,” Koepka revealed.
He continued: “So to be back out here and have the opportunity to if you need to make a slight change in something, it’s a whole lot easier, or you damage a club during play, to get a replacement, a shaft change, whatever it might be.”
He went on to describe the PGA Tour equipment treatment as a “huge advantage” over LIV Golf.
“Just more access to everything, I think, has been a huge advantage,” he said. “I’m not going to do too much of that. I know I keep changing the putter pretty much every week now, but as far as the rest of the equipment that I have, I’m very satisfied with it. I’m very, very pleased with it.”
As to whether other LIV Golf players have called Koepka for advice on making the transition back to the PGA Tour, Koepka said no. The reason? He changed his phone number.
“I changed my number a while ago, so I don’t think many guys have my number, which is great,” Koepka said. “So I haven’t had to worry about too much of that.”
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