Brooks Koepka (MC) coy about injury status after Wyndham Championship
GREENSBORO, N.C. – After a ragged performance and a missed cut at the Wyndham Championship, something physical is clearly bothering Brooks Koepka. But don’t expect him to tell you what it is.
Koepka was one of the headliners for this week’s event at Sedgefield Country Club, where he was making his first appearance since a T-6 result in 2015. But Koepka struggled on the greens Thursday en route to a 2-over 72, and his brief comeback attempt in the second round unraveled with a triple bogey 7 on the 10th hole. He ultimately signed for an even-round 70, and at 2 over missed the cut by five shots.
“Not very good,” Koepka said. “It wasn’t good at all.”
Koepka was making his sixth start in as many weeks, but that stretch now includes three missed cuts to go along with his faltering finish Sunday at the PGA Championship. Any hopes he had to salve the wounds of Harding Park went out the window quickly this week at Sedgefield, where Koepka’s issues were seen across the board: he ranked 101st this week in strokes gained: off-the-tee and 137th in putting.
Koepka has been bothered by a left knee injury for much of the season, undergoing arthroscopic surgery in the fall and reaggravating the injury at the CJ Cup in October. Last week TV viewers watched him pause his round at one point to stretch out his left hip with an on-course trainer, and Friday he spent time during waits and backups stretching his back and attempting to stay loose.
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Koepka specified that his left knee is not the root cause of his current woes, but he also confirmed that he had issues getting onto his left side during the second round.
“This is physical, yeah. I know how to do it, I can do it, I just physically can’t do it,” Koepka said. “My golf swing’s fine. If I can physically do it, then yes, everything’s fine.”
Koepka embodies the persona of an athlete, and Friday he sounded more like a hockey player than a golfer: it’s not a knee issue or a hip woe, it’s simply a lower-body injury. Further specifics weren’t coming, except for Koepka to reiterate that he did not consider withdrawing and didn’t second-guess his commitment after solidifying his playoff status with a runner-up finish last month in Memphis.
“I don’t quit,” Koepka said. “I told (tournament director) Mark (Brazil), I told everybody I would be here, so I’ll finish it out. Even if we had gotten a rain delay and had come back tomorrow to finish one hole, I would have been here.”
Instead he’s heading home to mend – well, something. Koepka will make his seventh straight start next week at the playoff opener at TPC Boston, where he’ll start the week outside the top 90 in points. Only the top 70 will advance to the BMW Championship the following week, which means he’ll have significant work to do if he’s going to extend his season to Chicago or perhaps East Lake for the season-ending Tour Championship.