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Brooks Koepka’s stellar ball striking at the Farmers Insurance Open is a good sign for his 2026 season.
In Brooks Koepka’s buzzy return to the PGA Tour, the five-time major champion shot 73-68-73-70 at Torrey Pines Golf Course to finish the Farmers Insurance Open in a tie for 56th place at 4 under par. The 35-year-old barely made the cut by one stroke and eventually finished 19 shots behind champion Justin Rose, but that’s not indicative of how well he played in his first PGA Tour start since 2022.
Koepka was impressively sharp from tee to green all week, gaining an average of 2.02 strokes per round in three days on the South Course (the North Course doesn’t support strokes gained stats). Among the 74 players who made the cut, Koepka ranked 11th in strokes gained from tee to green and third in strokes gained from around the green.
The problem? He lost 7.23 strokes from putting to rank dead last in the field.
That sounds bad, but putting is the most volatile skill in professional golf. A strong, consistent tee-to-green game typically leads to success, and Koepka looks like his old self in that regard.
Brooks Koepka Puts the PGA Tour on Notice in 2026 Debut
Brooks Koepka finished at 4-under (T56) at the @FarmersInsOpen.
He caught up with Amanda Balionis following his final round.
Expectations for Koepka’s 2026 debut were depressed considering he missed three of the four major championship cuts and didn’t finish better than T17 in his last eight LIV Golf starts last year. The former World No. 1 seemed to be declining, but he put that narrative to rest in his return to the PGA Tour.
Koepka gained strokes on approach and around the green in all three of his rounds on the South Course this past week. He also gained strokes from off the tee in two of those three rounds and ranked 25th in the field in driving distance.
If the putter wasn’t a complete disaster, Koepka could’ve easily been on the first page of the leaderboard on Sunday afternoon. Instead, he lost a whopping 5.446 strokes from putting on Saturday alone.
“It can’t get worse, right?” Koepka joked after the third round, per Golf Digest. “Game feels good. I think putting is probably last in the field, but never really putted well here. Don’t know the answer to it right now. I’ll probably try to figure that out when I’m done with you guys. But I’m very happy with everything. Seems to be lining up, so I’m very pleased.”
After his dismal putting performance on Saturday, Koepka got to work on the practice green and returned on Sunday to put up his best putting round of the tournament.
Don’t Be Surprised if Koepka Contends at the WM Phoenix Open
Koepka has never been a consistent putter, especially on bumpy Poa annua greens. His poor putting performance at Torrey Pines shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, and he probably won’t repeat it at the WM Phoenix Open this week.
TPC Scottsdale features Poa trivialis greens with a blend of ryegrass, a surface Koepka has excelled on in the past. The two-time WM Phoenix Open champion has gained strokes from putting in all five of his career starts at TPC Scottsdale.
If Koepka brings that same tee-to-green game to Arizona and catches fire with the putter on these familiar greens, look out.
Jack Dougherty Jack Dougherty is an established sports journalist covering professional golf, Penn State football and the NFL with a focus on the Philadelphia Eagles for Heavy.com. His work has been featured on GoPSUSports.com, the Centre Daily Times, the Associated Press, Sportscasting, Sportmoney, Pro Golf Now and Yardbarker. More about Jack Dougherty
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