Brooks Koepka Talks Form, Legacy And New Putter Ahead of Return To Hometown Event

The Cognizant Classic tees off in the Palm Beaches, with Brooks Koepka headlining the field alongside last year’s champion Joe Highsmith, Ryder Cup clincher Shane Lowry and Ryan Gerard, the top-ranked player to tee it up this week.

Koepka’s form since returning from the LIV Golf League has dominated discourse this year. The former Smash GC captain was the first to win five individual titles at LIV, before being overtaken by Joaquin Niemann, and was the first active LIV Golfer to win a Major Championship at the 2023 PGA Championship.

However, since his return to the PGA Tour, his success has not yet travelled with him. Now ranking 263rd in the world, Koepka has finished T56 at the Farmers Insurance Open, and then failed to make the cut at the WM Phoenix Open - an event he has won twice previously.

Koepka returned to the PGA Tour via the Returning Member Program, which stipulated he must forfeit player equity for five years, accept ineligibility for FedEx Cup bonuses, and agree to a $5m donation to charity. In his pre-tournament press conference, he discussed fond memories of his hometown event, changes to PGA National, and pondered over his golfing legacy among other things.

He was also asked how he decided on the 11 charities he donated to, which were revealed earlier this week - with $1m going to Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation, the primary charitable recipient of the Cognizant Classic.

“Me and the PGA Tour got together. All those charities are charities that I've been involved with for years, either participated in or have gone and helped around or donated to before, and I just feel like it was a good opportunity to donate to something where I know the money is actually going to,” he explained.

This week, the five-time Major champion returns to make his eighth appearance at the event at what can be considered a ‘home course’ for him. He first played it in 2014 and only missed one year prior to joining LIV, having also attended the event as a child.

“Growing up here, I came every year. I remember carrying the sign. From probably when I was nine, ten years old until probably maybe a junior, senior in high school, I remember carrying the sign,” he said.

“It's always good memories... It was always a lot of fun getting up close to the guys, seeing everything, and then obviously being able to play in it is special.

“My whole family and friends get to come out and see, and they're not able to all the time. It's a nice event. It's definitely weird staying at home. You just get so accustomed to living out of a suitcase or hotel or whatever. But it's enjoyable. It's nice to come back”.

Koepka also examined the changes made to what used to be one of the most difficult layouts on the Tour, and pointed to where he thinks he can take advantage over the week. PGA National's Champion Course has traditionally been one of the circuit's most demanding tests but witnessed a 59 last year when Jake Knapp shot 12-under-par in the opening round.

“The course has changed so much, I think, from when I last played it, being overseeded,” he stated.

"I can think hole 10 is back to a par-5. Six, the two bunkers on the right are taken out."

“Chipping around the greens has gotten a lot easier. The rough is down a little bit. It was so difficult because if you got in the rough here, you had to judge whether it was going to be a 30-yard flier or just come out 30 percent of its normal distance.

"It was just a pure guess. So it's a little more consistent now. You can kind of judge that better.

“I think you look at 10 being a par-4, chipping around these greens. On the back of 4, 11, they were always very dicey. If you missed those greens, you knew you were pretty much making bogey.

"Now with it being a little bit more consistent, I think you've got a reasonable chance of holing a chip or even getting it up-and-down.”

Koepka is currently ranked 6th around the greens on Tour, so perhaps he can use these changes to his advantage and reach the low scores achieved by the likes of Knapp, Jacob Bridgeman and winner Joe Highsmith last year.

Koepka’s kryptonite so far in 2026 has been his putting, something he has aimed to nullify by switching to the widely favoured TaylorMade Spider Tour X mallet.

“Everything is starting to get better, which it should,” he said.

“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.”

Fans will be eager to see whether Koepka’s putting can now back up his so far solid iron play. Though it is still early in the season, reporters were keen to quiz the Floridian on his legacy going forward…

“I feel like that's a very deep question. I don't know what I want my legacy to be. I kind of don't think about it. I just try to be the best person, best golfer I can be, and then wherever things settle up, they settle up,” he pondered.

“I just don't want to look back at the end of my career and say, man, I really could have put more effort in and just give everything I've got, 100 percent effort, and trying to win as many tournaments as be as dedicated as I can to the game.”

Koepka will begin his week from the first tee at 12:23pm (ET) on Thursday and then 7:33am (ET) on Friday from the tenth.