Brooks Koepka became the first player to win four times as part of the LIV Golf League, shooting a final-round 68 at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore on Sunday to beat Cam Smith and Marc Leishman by two strokes.
His timing wasn’t bad, either.
A few days after offering concern about his game in light of a poor Masters performance, Koepka stepped up and won the LIV Golf Singapore even to give himself a boost heading into the defense of his PGA Championship title in two weeks.
The year’s second major begins on May 16.
“It’s all starting to come around,” said Koepka, who last year won his fifth major title when he captured the PGA at Oak Hill, becoming the first active LIV golfer to win a major. “I like the way things are trending.’’
They didn’t seem to be trending well just a few days ago when Koepka made clear he was not happy with his tie for 45th at the Masters. “I felt like I wasted all that time from January up until then,’’ he said.
He tied for 10th at the LIV Golf event in Adelaide the week prior and heading into the Singapore tournament that he simply needed to get putts to drop.
“I’ve put in a lot of work,’’ he said. “I feel like on the golf course, off the golf course, it’s been a good two weeks, to say the least. Take a week off and then grinding pretty hard with (instructor) Claude (Harmon) over the last few days, I thought that was very important. Kind of started to see it turn maybe Wednesday, Thursday of Adelaide, so to see it pay off here is huge.”
Koepka won his third PGA Championship Wanamaker Trophy last year. In each of his first four major victories, he won back-to-back at the 2017 and ’18 U.S. Opens and the 2018 and ’19 PGAs.
After a second-round 64, Koepka started the final round with a three-shot lead over Abraham Ancer, Adrian Meronk, Thomas Pieters and Mathew Wolff. He never relinquished his lead, although several challengers closed the gap at times.
“I felt the heat, but it was mainly because of how hot it was,” Koepka said. “Just played very consistent, missed it in the right spots. When you’re playing with a lead, you do that. You don’t have to force anything.”
Smith and Leishman were part of the winning Ripper GC team, capturing the team title for the second straight week.
With his PGA Championship title defense looming, Brooks Koepka is searching for the game that saw him win a fifth major championship last year at Oak Hill Country Club.
He didn’t sound extremely confident during a news conference Thursday in advance of the LIV Golf Singapore event, which begins Friday morning (9:15 p.m. ET Thursday).
“Clearly not very good,” Koepka said when asked how his game was trending in advance of the PGA at Valhalla, which begins May 16. “With Augusta the way that it went, I kind of felt like I wasted all the time from December until then. Just keep grinding away, keep doing the work, and hopefully something will turn around.”
Brooks Koepka shot four over-par rounds at the Masters and finished T45.
Michael Madrid, Michael Madrid / USA
Koepka was referring to the Masters, where he tied for 45th and was never really in the tournament after tying for second last year. He opened with a 73 and added rounds of 73, 76 and 75.
That came after weekend rounds of 78-78 in LIV’s event in Miami the weekend prior.
Koepka lamented his putting, which caused a putter switch a few weeks back. Although he tied for 19th in the putting stats at Augusta National, he believes that’s been the main source of his trouble.
He switched to a mallet putter recently.
“It’s been in the bag two weeks before Augusta, I haven’t even putted with that other putter, the one I’ve putted with for—the button back I’ve probably putted with for 12, 14 years, I haven’t putted with it since then,” he said.
“I can’t find the hole at all, to be honest with you. Something we’ve just been putting some work into, so trying to find some answers.”
Asked what the main issue is, Koepka said: “Ball doesn’t go in the hole, that’s usually one of them. I don’t know how else to simply put it. I feel like I’m hitting good putts, they just keep burning lips. Eventually it starts to wear on you after a while. All you can do is hit a good putt and see where it goes from there. Hopefully they start falling soon.”
In six LIV Golf events so far this year, Koepka has only been on the fringe of contention, with two top 10s, including a tie for 10th on Sunday in Adelaide.
Welcome back to SI Golf’s Fact or Fiction, where we hope the finish of next week's PGA Championship in Kentucky is as great as the Kentucky Derby.
Once again, we’re here to debate a series of statements for writers and editors to declare as “Fact” or “Fiction” along with a brief explanation. Responses may also (occasionally) be “Neutral” since there's a lot of gray area in golf.
Do you agree or disagree? Let us know on the SI Golf X account.
Brooks Koepka won the LIV Golf Singapore event, turning around a slow season just in time for his PGA Championship defense. He is LIV’s best candidate to win a major this year.
Bob Harig: FACT. Based on his major promise and a confidence-boosting performance, Koepka will head to Louisville as LIV’s best hope. But don’t count out Cam Smith, who seems to have his game coming around as well.
John Pluym: FACT. Koepka’s at his best in the majors despite his recent Masters performance. Whether that’s enough to overtake Scottie Scheffler (Yes, I think he wins the PGA), we’ll see. But he’s definitely LIV’s best hope in Louisville.
A week in Singapore appears to have turned around Brooks Koepka's outlook for his PGA Championship defense.
Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Jeff Ritter: FACT. He’s the most proven major champion on the LIV circuit aside from Mickelson’s six titles, and Koepka may be putting it together just in time to pick off one more this summer and match Mickelson.
John Schwarb: FACT. This is a nod to Koepka but also acknowledgment that Jon Rahm still hasn’t rediscovered the top gear he had before going to LIV. He’s actually second in season points (well behind Joaquin Niemann) but his best finishes are a pair of thirds; wasn’t he supposed to dominate and be at the top of any major discussions?
Koepka became the first to win four times in LIV Golf. He also has four titles on the PGA Tour (not counting majors). Koepka’s career will ultimately have more LIV wins than Tour wins.
Bob Harig: FACT. This is likely inevitable. Koepka seems certain to win more times on LIV Golf and his future with the PGA Tour seems murky at best.
John Pluym: FACT. I don’t think there’s any doubt that he wins more tournaments on LIV Golf than the PGA Tour.
Jeff Ritter: FACT. Perhaps someday there will be a path back to the PGA Tour for Koepka and his fellow LIV’ers, but at the moment it looks like he’ll lift more LIV trophies from here on out.
John Schwarb: NEUTRAL. Two possible paths for Koepka to go back to the PGA Tour: some kind of reunification or he returns after not signing a second LIV contract (he’s believed to be signed through next year). I wouldn’t put money on either but somehow I don’t think he’s done winning regular Tour events.
Tiger Woods accepted a special exemption into next month’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst. The 15-time major winner is entitled to an unlimited number of special exemptions.
Bob Harig: FACT. Have been saying this and writing this for years. There was going to come a time where Tiger would need an exemption and—if he’s willing and able—he will get as many as he wants. It’s unlikely Woods would attempt to play if he felt he was was unworthy. He deserves to make that call. And if Jack got eight exemptions and Arnie got five, there’s no reason why a nine-time USGA champion—including three U.S. Opens—wouldn’t get an abundance of special invites.
John Pluym: FACT. Jack Nicklaus won 18 professional majors in his career, including four U.S. Open titles. He received a record eight special exemptions, including five in a row until he stopped playing the U.S. Open after 2000 at Pebble Beach. So as long as Tiger wants to play in the U.S. Open, he should get as many as he wants. He’s the only golfer in recent history to be on the same level as Nicklaus. As such, the USGA should keep giving him special exemptions.
Tiger Woods's last U.S. Open appearance was in 2020 at Winged Foot.
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jeff Ritter: FACT. This shouldn’t even be controversial. (Is it controversial?) Woods made the tour what it is today, and although he’s diminished he can still play, as evidenced by that recent made-cut at Augusta. Is there any special exemption that will do more to boost fan interest and overall buzz than Tiger Woods?
John Schwarb: FACT. What Woods has done to earn multiple exemptions isn’t up for debate, and the truth is he is highly unlikely to take as many as Nicklaus and play U.S. Opens into his late 50s. Not sure he’ll even match Arnie’s five. Golf fans need to just enjoy these moments.
Bob Harig: NEUTRAL. This all depends on where you sit on this issue. Certainly, not even trying to qualify doesn’t help Gooch’s cause. He could use it as motivation. He’s only hurting himself here. If he believes himself to be a major player—why wouldn’t he?—he should do everything he can to get in the majors, even if he disagrees with the process.
John Pluym: FACT. His Official World Golf Ranking is No. 644, and he had only one PGA Tour victory before joining LIV. So based on the facts, he is only hurting himself by not going through qualifying. And, honestly, he hasn’t proved to be good enough to be deserving of a special exemption.
Jeff Ritter: FICTION. Skipping major qualifying is good headline fodder but it doesn’t change how I perceive Gooch at all—he has shown all of us that when it comes to career decisions, his top priority is cash. Since he didn’t give a reason, I assume he is skipping the lower-paying USO to stay fresh for the $4 million top prize at LIV Golf Nashville the following week.
John Schwarb: FACT. I don’t think many fans begrudge pro golfers getting their bags of cash like other athletes but a lack of effort or caring is where they draw the line. Not attempting to qualify for our national championship is a betrayal of one's talent.
The golf season's second major is two weeks away and we’re already seeing some interesting odds movement ahead of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on May 16-19.
PGA Tour rookie Ludvig Aberg has shot up the odds board this year and somehow has shorter odds than multiple major champions who are playing as well, if not better than him currently.
One of those players is reigning PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka. A three-time winner of this event coming off an impressive performance that led to victory on the LIV Tour, Koepka is somehow sitting behind Aberg in odds to win, which seems insane considering his form and history at this event. But here we are.
Koepka is currently the fifth-betting favorite with odds of +1600 at FanDuel Sportsbook to hoist his fourth Wanamaker Trophy.
Aberg is +1500 at FanDuel to win the title. That’s tied with two-time major champion Jon Rahm for the third-shortest odds. Only Scottie Scheffler (+400) and Rory McIlroy (+1100) have shorter odds at FanDuel than Aberg.
Directly behind Aberg in the FanDuel odds are Xander Schauffele (+2100), Wyndham Clark (+2400), Collin Morikawa (+2900), and Cameron Smith (+2900), among others. Clark, Morikawa and Smith have all won majors and Schauffele has three-times more top fives in majors (6) than Aberg has appearances.
This is Aberg's second major championship appearance and first PGA Championship. Since its inception in 1916, only nine players have won the PGA Championship in their first appearance. Morikawa was the most recent in 2020. Before that it was Keegan Bradley in 2011 and Shaun Micheel in 2003.
Not impossible, but not likely either.
Aberg finished second at the Masters and T-10 at the RBC Heritage the week after. He’s playing in the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo this week and his performance will be worth monitoring. Those odds still seem high given his lack of experience playing in majors.
Koepka, meanwhile, has rounded into form after a disappointing T-45 finish at the Masters. He admitted he felt “embarrassed” by his performance at Augusta and has a greater focus since, which has led to better results on LIV.
He won the LIV Golf tournament in Singapore this past weekend and shot a three-round 14-under to finish 10th in Australia the week before. His putter was on fire in Singapore and he continues to be one of the best ball strikers in the game.
Koepka won back-to-back PGA Championships in 2018-2019. He also won back-to-back U.S. Open titles in 2017-2018. Clearly, he knows how to string together major wins in the same event.
While he hasn’t played well at the most recent two majors (T-64 at the British Open last year to go along with his T-45 at Augusta), putting Koepka behind Aberg in the odds seems wild. Even DraftKings having Koepka and Aberg tied at +1600 is surprising.
Aberg has proven he can play with the most elite players in the world. But he’s yet to prove he can beat them. His lone PGA Tour win was a fall event last year where the top competitor was Mackenzie Hughes at four strokes behind him.
Not exactly a pressure-packed moment.
Aberg faced that pressure at Augusta on the back nine Sunday and pulled his approach shot into the water on 11 and made a double bogey. He rebounded with two birdies on 13 and 14, but he was so far behind Scheffler at that point there the pressure was gone.
This is not to say Aberg won’t contend at the PGA Championship or win a major in the future, maybe even this year. This is more of a note on the odds being off based on experience and historical performance.
Koepka should be ahead of Aberg in the odds, not behind or tied with him. That’s a bet worth considering.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
