And you thought Tiger Woods was the master of secrets!
World’s No. 1 Brooks Koepka made his debut for the new season yesterday and shot a not-so-exciting one-under par 70.
The real stunner came on Wednesday at his pre-tournament presser for the Shriners Hospitals for Children event. Typically when the world’s No. 1 shows up at a cross-over season event, the PGA Tour will have him meet with whatever media members have shown up in Vegas. It was then that Koepka dropped a major bomb on the golf world.
You may remember how Koepka would tell us that he didn’t practice before regular tour events and that he would get his game in order on site. There was a reason for that.
He couldn’t practice due to a partial tear of a patella tendon that has bothered him since last March. The Monday after the Tour Championship, Koepka went to Orlando and underwent non-surgical treatment. He opted for the new procedure where stem cells are injected into the injured area and they promote new growth of the tendon in his case.
It wasn’t without some pain.
“I was watching it on the screen as they were doing it and it was probably one of the most painful things,” he said. “I was screaming when they did it.”
Koepka said he limped around and tried to stay off his feet for three days before beginning three to four weeks of rehab. He started practicing about a week and a half ago.
“I’m prepared for a tournament for once,” he said. “I can finally practice again, which is nice, without pain,” he said. “Last year, I didn’t practice at all. I mean, I vocalized that, said I hadn’t practiced. I finally feel good enough where I can actually practice and feel prepared coming into golf tournaments – not trying to find it on Tuesday or Wednesday.
“I’ll be practicing this year.”
So with that revelation, it makes us wonder if Koepka can be even more of a factor in the major championships this season.
During his opening round at TPC Summerlin was pretty bland. He started on the back nine, made a sloppy bogey right out of the box, then made birdie but three-putted the par three 15th from 28 feet for another bogey. That pretty much how it went all day, a few birdies, some mistakes that offset them and by day’s end that round of 70 left him tied for 85th.
He wasn’t even the low Koepka.
You’ll notice that younger brother Chase is in the field which probably explains why Brooks is playing. Real simple, when the world’s No. 1 says he’ll show up if you give his little brother a sponsor’s exemption, well, that’s a no-brainer for the folks who run the event.
Unlike his superstar brother, Chase has no status on any tour right now, he lost his European Tour card. But he made the most of it on Thursday. He showed Brooks that you can get around TPC Summerlin bogey-free. Chase’s five-under par 66 left him tied for eighth and if he can manage a top 10, he can play in next week’s event. He’s just three behind first round leader Nick Taylor.
Brooks has some work to do on Friday if he’s looking to make the 36-hole cut. Weather conditions were pretty nice for the opening round and it may take four-under to make it to the weekend.
In the meantime, now that Brooks is on the road to being 100 percent, it makes us wonder what’s in store for him this season.
After all, he says he’s actually going to practice now.
Scary.
