Brooks Koepka has finally let the injury cat out of the bag — he had surgery on his injured right knee last Tuesday.
Koepka said he was diagnosed with “a right knee cap dislocation and ligament damage.” Doctors went in and repaired the damage and Koepka is out of The Masters and out indefinitely as he begins the rehabilitation process.
Koepka’s last event was the WGC-Workday in Bradenton. He withdrew from The Players after what his manager described as a “strained right knee.” An MRI revealed the damage and he underwent surgery on March 16.
As for the time for his return to the PGA Tour, Koepka said: “Whatever my body says, I’m going to listen.”
Roberta Diaz Wins Louisiana Open By One Over Peter Uihlein:
Roberto Diaz got his first win on the Korn-Ferry Tour Sunday, edging Peter Uihlein by a shot to win the Louisiana Open.
Diaz began the final round with a two-shot lead and closed with a three-under par 68 that got him to 18-under par. A bogey at the par four 17th proved costly for Uihlein. He posted 67 and finished solo second at 17-under at Le Triomphe Golf and Country Club outside Lafayette Tom Whitney was alone in third at 17-under.
“Oh, man, where do I start; it’s been a long road for me,” said an emotional Diaz. “All I could think about on the course is just sustain the moment, it sounds so cliché — you have to stay in the moment. This win means a lot for me, for my family, for my team, for different reasons, not only for the sentimental part of it. But like I told you, the monkey on my back is off. I feel a lot of relief, I feel a lot of weight off me. There’s only one thing that I wanted, it was to win. When my kid came along, I kind of put that off my mind, and now I have two things off my mind now.”
Diaz had increased his advantage to four strokes after an eagle at the par-5 seventh hole, but after a bogey at the 13th, Uihlein had narrowed the gap to one. Uihlein followed that up with a chip-in birdie at the 14th to tie the lead. Both players made pars on Nos. 15 and 16 before Uihlein three-putted at the 17th to see his chances evaporate. Uihlein fhit his tee shot in the water at 18 but managed to save par — it wasn’t good enough as Diaz made a routine par for the win.
Justin Harding Magical, Wins Magical Kenya Open:
South African Justin Harding out-fought American Kurt Kitiyama Sunday to win the Magical Kenya Open at the Karen Country Club in Nairobi.
Harding shot a final round of 66 to beat Kitiyama by two shots. He had front nine birdies at the sixth and seventh holes then drove the green on the reachable par four ninth. He lined up his 2-footer for eagle and drained it to make the turn four-under for the day. He held off Kitiyama with a string of pars until he birdied the 17th to ice the championship. It was his second victory, his first came at the 2019 Qatar Masters.
“I went through such a good run in 2019 when it felt like I never actually played badly,” Hardin said after collecting the victory. “Getting over the line in Qatar was, it sounds a bit strange now, but it was almost like something that was going to happen. I’ve been through a dip in form in terms of mixed results and it was nice to get over the line this time around. Winning isn’t everything but I think being in the winner’s circle again means a little more to me than I actually thought it did.
“Ultimately, I just hope that I can kick on and it would be nice if I could go on a run like I did in 2018-2019 but who knows? Maybe I do it, maybe I don’t. We’ve just got to keep giving ourselves some chances. I’m just happy with the way I managed my game. I made a mess of 11 and 12 and ultimately the way I played 13 through 18 this week, it was a bit of a stressful time. I executed some shots and managed to make a couple of good par saves.”
Magical Kenya Open Scoreboard:
