Koepka emerges from "dark places" to end 18-month drought
Brooks Koepka of the United States poses with the trophy after winning the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale on February 07, 2021 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Brooks Koepka feared he would never regain the form that brought him four major wins in eight starts until he ended an 18-month injury nightmare at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
On what was a good news weekend for Ryder Cup skippers Steve Stricker and Pádraig Harrington, Koepka (30) won for the first time since he destroyed Rory McIlroy in the 2019 WGC FedEx St Jude Invitational and admitted he’d visited “dark places” and suffered “excruciating pain” during a long recovery from knee problems.
"There was a period of about two months where I questioned whether I was ever going to be the same, whether I was even going to be somewhat remotely the same golfer that I ever was," the former world number one confessed.
"My knee, no matter how much work and pain I was doing with Derek Samuel, my trainer, it just felt like it wasn't progressing. And that's the frustrating part, when you feel like it's not going anywhere.
"But we stuck with it. Those dark places, a lot of tears, questioning yourself, and in dark places mentally… I'll tell you what, it takes a lot of effort just do get out of those places."
US Ryder Cup skipper Stricker (53) played alongside Koepka as he tied for fourth with a resurgent Jordan Spieth.
“I catch myself though rooting for guys, like Brooks, and then I've got to pull myself back and say, ‘Wait a second, I'm trying to win this thing, too’,” Stricker revealed. “And so I want to see him play well because I think he can be a huge help to this team in September.”
As for Spieth, Stricker added: “He's always on my radar because of what he's capable of doing. He's not that far down the points list… It's going to take some time probably for him. We've all been there where you struggle a little bit. This is a baby step for him probably.”
Harrington, who joins Seamus Power in this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, will have been pleased to see Rory McIlroy close with a 64 to tie for 13th thanks to a brilliant putting day..
“I'm going to get the plane perfecter out, that little machine I have, and work on that,” said McIlroy, who returns in Los Angeles for the first of four in a row at next week’s Genesis Invitational. “I'm getting way too steep in the downswing, and hitting a lot of pulls and a lot of sort of weak cuts.
“So I'll work on that, try to get the club more out in front of me on the way back and try to shallow it a little bit on the way down. And then just a bunch of putting.”
Harrington will also have seen Justin Rose finish tied for second with Tony Finau behind Dustin Johnson in the Saudi International, moving the English veteran up 17 places to 14th in the World Points List.
Meanwhile, Kinsale's John Murphy improved his chances of Walker Cup selection when tied for sixth in the prestigious Jones Cup Invitational at Ocean Forest Golf Club at Sea Island.
The University of Louisville star followed rounds of 75 and 72 with a two-under 70 to finish on one-over-par, just three shots behind Swede Ludvig Aberg as Wake Forest's Mark Power and Holywood's Tom McKibbin tied for 28th Holywood's Tom McKibbin.
Power, Murphy, McKibbin and Dundalk's Caolan Rafferty all have high hopes of selection for the 48th Walker Cup which will be played at Seminole in Florida from 8-9 May.
