Brooks Koepka Trying to End Stretch of ‘Playing So Bad For So Long’

Struggling to find his game, Brooks Koepka initially intended to skip this week’s event at Mayakoba.

Then he realized: “I’m not going to get any better sitting at home.”

So Koepka signed up for the World Wide Technology Championship, the first of back-to-back starts for the four-time major champion who has grown increasingly frustrated with his game.

Since a tie for sixth at the Open Championship in July, Koepka has failed to finish inside the top 20 in his last six starts. Included in that stretch was a withdrawal because of a wrist injury and a pedestrian performance at the Ryder Cup when he was one of the few Americans who didn’t have an individual record better than .500.

In limited action this fall, he has struggled mightily with his iron play, short game and putting. Overall, he ranks 142nd in strokes gained: total.

Full-field tee times from the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba

“I’ve been playing so bad for so long, so I’m just trying to play my way out of this thing and figure it out,” he said Wednesday in Mexico. “Hopefully we come out the other side soon.”

After another injury-plagued year, Koepka says that he is healthy and can practice without much limitation.

“I’ve just been grinding, man,” he said. “You go through periods where you just feel like you’ve got no control of the clubhead or you don’t know exactly where your swing is and what you’re doing. It’s just frustrating. I don’t think I’m playing as bad as probably I’ve let on, but the consistency is just not there; there’s certain shots that just aren’t there. Not what I’m using to seeing, I guess, is a good way to put it.”

Koepka will play again next week in Houston and the Hero World Challenge to close out his 2021 campaign. With a win in Phoenix and two runner-up finishes, he has dropped only one spot in the world rankings this year, to No. 13, despite missing time because of injuries to his knee and wrist.