Brooks Koepka is featuring a new look as he makes his first start of the 2021-2022 PGA Tour season this week. Make that a new way of looking at putts.
After struggling with reading greens recently, the four-time Major champion shared with reporters at the Shriners Children’s Open that he made a significant change to his putting routine ahead of the Ryder Cup.
“So I’ve kind of gone to my putting coach, Jeff Pierce, we worked a little bit on AimPoint. I started to use that, Ryder Cup was the first time I used it, and I thought that was a big thing,” Koepka told reporters in Las Vegas. “It’s just using it kind of more as a… not the answer, more of the double check or having an idea where… this putt should be breaking. Then get behind it, bend down, look at it, do my normal thing, OK, they both work… just a double-check system. Plus it takes a little bit off having to bend down all the time on the knees, so it’s a double added bonus.”
Koepka went 2-2 at Whistling Straits, including a win in his Sunday singles match. He came away happy with his putting after utilising the AimPoint method of green-reading. Well, up to a point, that is.
“Yeah, I don’t probably use the AimPoint as the AimPoint people would like it, it’s just like a rough guess,” Koepka said. “I just: is it a 1, 2, 3, 4? Whatever it might be. I don’t try to get too specific with it and just kind of have a ballpark region. So to go with it.”
After a couple of disappointing seasons that have included knee and wrist injuries, 31-year-old Koepka said he’s willing to try new things as he attempts to maximise what he hopes is just the start of the prime of his career.
“I’ve fallen off, to be completely honest, I’ve fallen off going to world No.1. Injuries, all this stuff, and I haven’t been where I expect myself to be, so I think that’s been the disappointing part,” said Koepka, who is currently ninth in the Official World Golf Ranking. “So it was a, kind of kicking myself and trying to figure out how to get better and that was just one of the ways. So I like where this information is coming, because it’s definitely helping and I think having maybe an open mind to certain things is key out here.”
Koepka won his four Major championships in a two-year span from 2017 to 2019. Since winning the 2019 WGC–FedEx St Jude Invitational, however, he’s won just once: at this year’s Waste Management Open.
PHOTO: Stacy Revere