It looked like Brooks Koepka was rounding into form just in time for the US Open at Shinnecock Hills, where he won in 2018. Now, an injury at the RBC Canadian Open has that all up in the air.
Koepka is dealing with some sort of arm/hand/wrist injury that appeared to be bothering him during the third round of the RBC Canadian Open on June 13. Koepka, who entered the day in the mix at the final US Open tune-up, finished the round but shot 2-over and sat seven shots off the lead entering the final round.
Brooks Koepka Deals With Mystery Injury Ahead of US Open
The 2018 US Open champion couldn’t immediately identify the actual issue following his round.
“Yeah, I don’t know what it is,’ Koepka told reporters. “I’m struggling to grip the club with my ring finger and pinkie finger, so can’t grip it. So the club is kind of just, my fingers would come loose, it was kind of numb. I don’t know what the deal was but hopefully we’ll figure it out.”
The problem started early in the day for Koepka, and he even received some treatment midway through his round but remained flummoxed by the whole ordeal.
“The whole warmup, I felt fine, I was absolutely good,” he added. “Then got to the range and went to grip the club, and I just couldn’t even grip it. So it lasted — it was all day. Felt better the last few holes. I don’t know if that’s just the meds kicked in or what it is. But hopefully we’ll figure it out now.”
Brooks Koepka Was Trending in Right Direction Ahead of US Open
At this rate, a withdrawal from Canada wouldn’t be surprising, and it might be Koepka’s best play, even as he contines to grind things out in his return to the PGA Tour. The five-time major champion puts an emphasis on the season’s biggest tournaments, and no doubt he’d like to contend for a sixth at the spot he won back in 2018.
So far, Koepka has impressed since returning to the PGA Tour from LIV. He has embraced the pathway program, playing a lot of golf, missing just two cuts (not counting the Zurich Classic team event) in 11 starts. He finished in a tie for 12th at the Masters and was tied for 14th in his most recent start entering the week.
Koepka went 64-68 and reached the top of the leaderboard to start the week before the third-round injury.
The underlying metrics are good, too. Koepka entered the week ranked fourth on the PGA Tour in strokes gained approach, seemingly regaining to the elite ball-striking capabilities of his prime. He remains roughly a top-30 player off the tee, too. Putting has been an issue, but extremely difficult tests like the one Shinnecock Hills will present on the greens next week has a way of leveling the playing field.
As of June 13, Koepka was 30-1 to win the US Open at GolfOdds.com. That’s a shorter number than the likes of Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas and slots him just behind players like Bryson DeChambeau, Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick, who are all 25-1.
Brooks Koepka Gives Concerning Update Ahead of US Open