Brooks Koepka's Reunion With Coach Claude Harmon III Bearing Fruit
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Even before his move to LIV Golf in June, Brooks Koepka had seen his world golf ranking slip outside of the top 20, a place he had not been since 2017, before he won the first of his four major championships.
With the controversy surrounding his move to LIV Golf following the U.S. Open—where he had admonished reporters for asking about the possibility—and lingering injury issues, Koepka said he wondered about his future.
While getting healthy was part of the process, so was reuniting with a longtime coach who went back to 2013 with Koepka when the golfer was first getting started as a pro on Europe’s Challenge Tour.
Brooks Koepka had a slow start to his LIV Golf season but won the final individual event in Saudi Arabia.
Lynne Sladky/AP
Koepka and Claude Harmon III had parted ways following the 2020 Masters. They began working together again this summer and Koepka believes his success since then is not a coincidence.
“I think we’ve seen it coming for a couple weeks,” Koepka said during LIV Golf’s season-ending event in Miami. “I think it was when we were in Bedminster (in late July), I called (Harmon) and he was on the range on Friday or Saturday. I started working with him there and it’s been, if we’re home four or five days a week I’ve just been bugging him to see if he’ll work with me every day. It’s come along really nicely. I’m very pleased. Very happy.”
Koepka, for so long a force in the majors, had a poor run in them this year, missing the cut at the Masters and the British Open and finishing 55th at both the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. He did have a tie for fifth at the WGC-Match Play and tied for third at the WM Phoenix Open.
It seems forever ago, but Koepka finished tied for second at the PGA won last year by Phil Mickelson, and was also in contention at the U.S. Open (T4) and the Open (T6).
Koepka didn’t post a top-10 finish in his first four LIV Golf events, with a tie for 11th at the Bedminster event his best finish. But a tie for eighth in Thailand followed by a sudden-death playoff victory over Peter Uihlein were huge confidence boosters and a sign to Koepka that, perhaps, he is on the right path again.
“I’m just happy to be back," he said. “There was always a question mark of 'am I going to be the same player?’ Just because of all the injuries and all the different things. You start questioning whether you can do it and all of a sudden, it’s like all the pieces are starting to come back. Then you go out and win and it’s like, ‘OK, I’ve still got the mental side of it. I’ve still got the physical side of it.’ So just put them all together every week and I’m just very happy.”
Koepka now has considerable time to get ready for 2023. He wants to get back in the gym as well as continue to work on his game. He’s not expected to play again until early February at the Saudi International, the Asian Tour event. The LIV Golf scheduled is expected to begin soon after that.
“Honestly, just keep doing the same thing I’ve been doing,’’ he said. “But just keep playing golf. I think it’s one of the big things, I’ve been working with Claude and I’m very pleased and I don’t want it to get out of whack and just return to where it was.’’