This Could Be the Week Brooks Koepka Contends Again on the PGA Tour

The five-time major champion is the biggest star at the Cognizant Classic, at a course he knows well, writes Bob Harig. It’s his third start since leaving LIV Golf and returning to the PGA Tour.

Brooks Koepka switched to a mallet putter at the WM Phoenix Open earlier this month. | Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Brooks Koepka is back on a familiar turf, at a golf tournament he used to attend as a kid, and on a course where he’s played a good bit over the years.

Now the goal is to get his game back to where he believes it belongs, and settling back into life on the PGA Tour.

Koepka is the headliner of a Cognizant Classic field lacking star power and his name on the leaderboards this weekend would be a boost to an event that has no players ranked among the top 25 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

For the five-time major winner, this is simply an opportunity to play an event near his home in the Jupiter, Fla., area.

“I feel really good. I think the first week was just a matter of getting out and going to play,” Koepka said Wednesday at PGA National, where the Cognizant (formerly the Honda Classic) is being played for the 20th time. “Phoenix just kind of exposed some stuff I need to work on. I was back at it on—I think we got back Saturday night, took Sunday off, and been grinding since Monday.

“But it feels really good. I’m excited. I know that it’s progressing very, very nicely, and just want to put myself in contention here a few times before Augusta and see where everything lies.”

Koepka is off to a slow start after making a highly-publicized return to the PGA Tour last month at the Farmers Insurance Open, where he tied for 56th.

Brooks Koepka has been welcomed back to the PGA Tour by fans, including those at the famed 16th at the WM Phoenix Open. | Anna Carrington-Imagn Images

It was the first time he played in a PGA Tour event since 2022 after leaving to play for the LIV Golf League the last four years. Koepka in December announced along with LIV Golf that he was opting out of the final year of his contract.

Within a few weeks, the PGA Tour had worked out a deal for him to return that centered on his status due to his 2023 PGA Championship victory. It came with restrictions that included not being allowed to play in signature events unless he qualified for them.

Hence, he missed Pebble Beach and the Genesis Invitational after missing the cut at the WM Phoenix Open.

Where Brooks Koepka’s $5 million fine money is being allocated

He’s also unable to earn FedEx Cup bonus money this year, won’t be eligible for the Tour’s equity program and was required to pay a $5 million fine, with the proceeds going to several charities that were announced this week. It includes a $1 million donation to the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation, which is the Cognizant tournament’s primary beneficiary.

There are 10 other charities that will split $1.5 million. The remaining $2.5 million will be dispersed among other Tour-member approved foundations.

Although it’s a small sample size, Koepka’s putting was an issue in his first two events. His strokes-gained putting ranked just 171st—although that is for only six rounds.

Putting plagued him at times in 2025 as Koepka has his worst year as a pro. He missed the cut in three major championships and didn’t win any events on LIV after capturing five between 2002 and 2004.

He made a switch to a mallet putter in Phoenix and hopes work with that begins to pay off.

“I made a few changes,” he said. “Everything is starting to get better, which it should. Got a game plan set going forward, which is nice, and making just little tweaks here and there.

“I probably hit 300 putts with it before I actually played. But having two weeks of being able to get work done and make some adjustments, it should be a lot better.”