At Cognizant Classic, Brooks Koepka Has Best Finish Since Returning to PGA Tour

After a "breakthrough" with the putter Thursday night, he steadily climbed up the leaderboard and feels he can ride the momentum into the Players Championship.

Brooks Koepka has had his best finish since returning to the PGA Tour at the Cognizant Classic. | JEFF ROMANCE/THE PALM BEACH POST / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — At the Cognizant Classic, Brooks Koepka attracted the largest gallery despite starting the final round essentially out of contention. 

And the fans constantly showered him with messages of “welcome back to the PGA Tour.” Some more obnoxiously than others.

Perhaps that’s the only difference between his days on the Tour before joining LIV in 2022 and now. 

“I think a lot of [the adjustment from returning] was first week,” Koepka said after his final-round 65 at PGA National. “Once you get inside the ropes, it feels natural. I think it’s easier once you get inside those ropes. Once the first week, doing all the media stuff and getting all that out of the way, it was a huge thing for me, and now it’s just a matter of going to play and build a rhythm.”

He certainly did that this week, in his third start since leaving LIV and being reinstated by the Tour. Koepka shot a first-round 74 and was outside 90th place. But after a putting adjustment where he tweaked his hand position, he climbed the leaderboard the next three days and will record his best finish of the season, sitting T7 when the five-time major champion signed his scorecard.

There were several highlights, too. A 343-yard drive on the par-4 3rd, knocking an approach from 106 yards on the par-4 13th to 4 feet and holing a greenside bunker shot on the par-4 14th.

The perks of hitting a 343-yard drive @BKoepka 💪

📺 @PGATOURLIVE on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/7dfGjWp0Kd

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 1, 2026

“Played really solid the last three days,” said Koepka, who gained over two strokes with the putter this week, ranked 15th in the field after his 72 holes. “Didn’t quite hit it that great yesterday, but just controlling shots I think a lot better. Putter obviously has gotten better. I haven’t looked at the stats, but just that little adjustment Thursday night made a huge difference. Finally found some confidence. I think that’s the one thing that's been lacking.”

Now, he feels he can ride the momentum. 

“It’ll carry over for sure. Honestly, it was just the putter. The putter, it felt like—because I wasn’t making any putts, I felt like I had to hit it to tap-in, so it was putting pressure on the iron play, maybe being more aggressive off the tee. So it was kind of backfiring that way. Just felt like I couldn't hit it to the—I’ve always said, conservatively aggressive. I try to hit it 15 feet right and sometimes you just settle for par on a tough hole and you roll one in. … I think Thursday night was a bit of a breakthrough.”

Koepka is not in next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, as he is ineligible to receive sponsor exemptions into signature events as one of the conditions under the Returning Member Program. So his next start will be the Players Championship in two weeks. He said he will get there Monday of tournament week to start prep, having not played at TPC Sawgrass since 2022.