He sure looked like Major Brooks. The world beater. The swaggering, smirking, growling, grinding-and-pounding pro immune to anxiety. Thanos in a polo.
But the person sitting at the dais on Tuesday morning didn’t sound much like Brooks Koepka.
That guy said he was nervous, which was a term the guy everyone knew maybe would have had to look up.
“I think it feels a little bit different,” he said.
“I’m definitely a little bit more nervous this week just coming back.”
Tuesday, though, perhaps that was to be expected. He was returning to the PGA Tour, where he had been before bolting for LIV in 2022. Two days ahead of Christmas, Koepka and that circuit parted ways, and a dozen days later, Koepka and the PGA Tour agreed to a comeback deal.
But none of that was playing.
How would that go? Would there be nerves there? Birdies? Bogeys? Thursday, at a little after 9:30 a.m. local time, we started to find out. That was when Koepka teed off on the first hole on Torrey Pines’ South Course, his first stroke of his first round at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Below is how the rest of the round went for the four-time major winner.
So how did Koepka look?
He shot a one-over 73, which was 11 shots behind leader Justin Rose. And as you would suspect with a one-over 73, there was some good, and there was some not-so-good.
The good? Shot one of the round found the fairway, and shot two dropped to 10 feet. On 5, from thick rough left of the green, Koepka chipped to an inch. On 10, after coming up short on his second shot on the par-4, he pitched to 6 feet and made par. On 18, after hitting over the green with his second shot and with the green sloping towards water past the hole, he chipped to 7 feet on his way to making his only birdie of the round.
But there were hiccups. He bogeyed 4 after a tee shot into a fairway bunker and a three-putt. He took four strokes from 43 yards on the par-5 13th and made bogey. From the tee, he hit just six of 14 fairways, and he averaged two putts on greens hit in regulation.
The round was fair. A 73 on the more difficult South Course didn’t hurt his chances, but he’ll need a lower number on Friday on the North Course to make the weekend. It should also be noted that Thursday’s round was his first since 4 October of last year.
Any interesting moments?
There was also an interesting interaction on the 1st tee. There, Koepka was greeted by Tony Perez, the event’s longtime 1st-tee announcer — and the father of Pat Perez, who is also looking to return to the PGA Tour after a stint on LIV Golf.
What did the TV analysts say about Koepka?
They spoke positively.
Said Golf Channel’s Notah Begay: “I think he found a little bit of rhythm towards the end of the round, a couple of nice tee shots there on 17 and 18, great approach at 16. All in all, I think he has to be pretty pleased.”
Said Golf Channel’s Curt Byrum: “I think today wasn’t that far off. I feel like you make a couple of putts early on that front nine — he missed two short putts for birdie on the front side. I feel like he’s swinging pretty well. I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes out and shoots a good round tomorrow on the North. The question will be whether it’s good enough to make the cut and play all four days.”
What did the fans say about Koepka?
They, too, were positive, Koepka said. Afterwards, he also said he wasn’t sure what he’d hear.
“I don’t like thinking ahead at all or trying to anticipate what was going to happen,” Koepka said, “but I wasn’t sure, which is kind of weird — being uneasy, or you don’t really know.
“From the first tee on, it was great. It actually made me settle down a little bit. Like I said, it made me feel good just to be out here. It was a good group with Max [Homa] and Ludvig [Åberg], I enjoyed that. The whole day was great.”
Did he know the last time that he cared about what others thought to the degree he has this week?
“I don’t know, that’s tough,” he said.
“I’m the only one in the entire world that’s going through this situation, so it’s very difficult to explain. But I’m enjoying it — I really am.”
What did Koepka say afterwards?
Koepka said he was happy with his ball-striking, but that his driver failed him. He also said that outside of 18, he didn’t make any putts.
Nerves, he said, played a part during the round. But why? After all, he’s been a professional for a while. He’s won big. He’s Brooks Koepka.
“Just because I care,” Koepka said. “I think I’ve fallen back in love with the game. And honestly, watching my son play a little bit and wanting to be able to see him watch me — or wanting him to watch me play well and realise how much this game’s given me, how fun it is and how cool it is to just be out here.”
Fallen back in love? Had he fallen out of love with the game?
“It wasn’t that you fall out of it, but I think you can fall deeper in love with it,” he said.
“I haven’t played competitively for, I think Rickie said, 14 weeks, so it’s a lot of time off, a lot of time to think, a lot of time to reflect. If you do that for a while sitting on the couch, you can go pretty deep on what you feel. I’m just excited.”
On Tuesday, Koepka appeared to speak more softly and reflectively than normal, and that continued on Thursday.
This article originated on Golf.com
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