Brooks Koepka Gives Brutal Assessment After Missing FedEx Cup Playoffs

Brooks Koepka at the Wyndham Championship — Brooks Koepka sees work ahead to get back to his best

(Image credit: Getty Images)

As the final event before the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the Wyndham Championship has a lot more at stake than battling for the title.

Only the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings make it to the first of the lucrative Playoffs, the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

As a result, for many competing at Sedgefield Country Club, the priority was a position high enough on the leaderboard to ensure that dream became a reality.

One of the biggest names in the field was five-time Major winner Brooks Koepka. He headed to North Carolina 86th in the standings and still very much in the running for a Playoffs berth.

However, after a final round of 70 left him three under for the tournament, it was apparent that it wouldn’t be enough. Afterwards, the former LIV Golfer didn’t hold back on the state of his game.

Koepka quickly identified the main issue as his putting, something that has dogged him all season, with the American beginning the week 116th in SG: Putting.

He said: “Ball-struck it great. It's just all on the greens. I don't know what the deal is, got zero confidence, can't putt. I don't know. There's going to be a lot of changes here soon.”

Brooks Koepka lines up a putt during the RBC Canadian Open — It's been a season of struggle with the putter for Koepka

It wasn’t just Koepka’s results with the flat stick that left him deflated. He was also damning about his inability to reach the Playoffs in general, saying: “Yeah, pretty disappointed. I think it's pretty pathetic that I can't get through.

“Zero top 10s basically in two years. To be in the prime of your career and be as good as I think I am, I think that's very pathetic, disappointing. Just need to go home and completely reevaluate everything.”

So, without a FedEx Cup Playoffs place, what are Koepka’s plans for the rest of the year? He explained: “I'm going to go play a couple events in Europe and then maybe a couple later ones in the fall.”

Despite Koepka's failure to reach the Playoffs, he insisted that his return to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf at the start of the season was a good move, saying: “Yeah, it's been great. Honestly, I've loved it. I feel fantastic. The reception's been great. Overall happiness is 10 out of 10 and just excited.”

Koepka wasn’t the only high-profile player in the Wyndham Championship field to see his Playoffs ambitions fall short.

Keegan Bradley hadn’t missed the FedEx Cup Playoffs since gaining his PGA Tour card in 2011, but he won’t be appearing in 2026 despite finishing on six under at Sedgefield Country Club, three shots better than Koepka.

Keegan Bradley at the Rocket Classic — Keegan Bradley's long run of FedEx Cup Playoffs appearances has come to an end

Bradley, who began the week just two places beneath the cut-off for qualification, blamed a slow start to the year, which came off the back of captaining the US to defeat at the Ryder Cup, for falling short.

He said: “Yeah, it was a tough year. It was a tough -yeah, it's been a tough, like, year and a half. I'm looking forward to getting home and resetting and coming out next year a little fresher maybe. I got off to such a terrible start this year. Next year hopefully will be better.”

On the end of his run of Playoffs appearances, Bradley added: “Yeah, pretty good streak. Normally I'd be going on to the Playoffs in years past right now. So, you know, yeah, it's only 70 make the Playoffs for some reason.

“Like I said, any other year I'd be in the first couple, so it's tough. I wish I just played a little better at the beginning of the year, we wouldn't be in this position.”

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories.

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game.

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course.

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.