Brooks means more in era of less

Koepka is not the only one happy to be back at Players thanks to him; Stray Shots

Brooks Koepka is happy to be back at TPC Sawgrass (Ben Jared/PGA Tour via Getty Images)

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — In the shrinking world of the PGA Tour, Brooks Koepka is a one-man expansion program.

Koepka’s return to the roost from LIV Golf in January brought benefits beyond just adding a five-time major winner to the best fields in golf. I brought with him opportunities for peers that had otherwise been taken away.

If Patton Kizzire and Seamus Power don’t drop thank you notes in Brooksie’s locker this week at TPC Sawgrass or tithe a portion of whatever thet might win from the Players’ richest individual purse in golf, they should at least put him on their Christmas card list,

When the PGA Tour agreed to terms to allow Koepka an immediate return back this year when he opted to leave LIV Golf after four seasons, it made clear it would not be at the expense of current PGA Tour players. Nobody was going to get bumped out of a tournament field to make room for Koepka.

In fact, to keep groups playing threesomes, two players would be added to any field Koepka is in through the 2026 season.

This week at the Players Championship, Kizzire and Power were the fortunate players who got into the now 123-player field at TPC Sawgrass, getting the opportunity to compete for the $25 million purse they otherwise would have missed out on.

“I think every week somebody’s thanked me, which has been kind of — it’s weird,” Koepka said Tuesday at TPC Sawgrass, where he is playing in his fourth PGA Tour event since returning and first Players since 2002. “I don’t know. Just never been thanked for playing an event before. So it was cool.

“I mean, it’s kind of nice. I mean, it’s a good opportunity for those guys to get in and play, and if they play good, hopefully keep it running for the rest of the year. Because pretty much, I would say, it’s going to be between the same, you know, 15 to 20 guys that are pretty much going to get in. It’s a good opportunity.”

Power understands that well. This year, field sizes have been reduced across the schedule as the tour went to a leaner model which saw just 100 fully exempt players off last year’s FedEx Cup points list (down from 125) and fewer spots allotted off the Korn Ferry Tour (20 down from 25).

Power finished 117th in 2025, so instead of full status he has only a conditional card. Along with reduced field sizes, that keept him out of Phoenix and likely the three upcoming non-signature events before the Masters. Once the fields increase to 144 players this summer, he’d get in more of the usual events. But the Players was going to be off the table until the Koepka rule got invoked.

“So they posted a field like last Monday, and I was 123 and literally never moved,” said Power, who watched anxiously to see if a previously unqualified winner at Puerto Rico or the Arnold Palmer Invitational would bump him out.

“Ricky Castillo won (in Puerto Rico) and he was already in this field, so that worked. I mean, I was following that pretty closely, because there was other guys up around that who weren’t in and they would have pushed me out. So when he won, you’re assuming that Brooks is not going to withdraw. So it’s just a weird thing. But 123 of 123 , it was nice. Because at least that settles a week, because otherwise you’re kind of trying to prepare, but the same time you’re kind of looking at the (alternate) list. You’re following this Rory’s (McIlroy back injury) thing like crazy, and you don’t want to wish injuries on anyone.”

Part of the PGA Tour’s thinking for downsizing was to help with pace of play, but the tour also believes it makes the overall circuit more competitive if it is harder to stay on or get into tournaments. The Players Championship has seen its field reduced from 144 to 120 but went up to 123 with Koepka eligible due to his 2023 PGA Championship victory.

Koepka admitted that after a few years away, he needs to acquaint himself with some players — especially the ones who are grateful for his presense giving them more chances to play.

“There was definitely some I didn’t know,” he said of the guys who’ve gotten into the four events he’s played. “I mean, I don’t know if this is a guess, but 30 percent of this tour I don’t know right now. I mean, I’m knowing more guys just being out here, but it’s going to take me a few more weeks.”

And if they want to thank him, they’ll have a tougher time reaching him. Koepka said he recently changed his phone number after the WM Phoenix Open, where he missed the cut.

“I do it probably more often than I should,” Koepka said of getting a new cell number. “I think after Phoenix, just wanted a little bit of a reset. Then my phone was blowing up. So just wanted to really focus in on preparation and dialing into golf. I thought that was the best way to just kind of come unglued from the world for a half second and where basically it was only my family and anybody that’s golf related really has my number right now, which … it’s been kind of nice.”

Koepka is trying to regain the form that saw him win five majors and become the first player to win five times on LIV Golf.

But he hasn’t won anything since 2024 and he had a forgettable 2025 in which he missed the cut in three of the four majors and barely contended in LIV events, finishing 32nd in the league’s points standings.

“I think it was a lot of putting,” Koepka said. “I think it’s been going on longer than a year though. I think it’s been pushing two. Just where I haven’t … the consistency of speed hasn’t been there. I felt like every time I hit a good putt, it just kind of hit the lip or would miss it by a foot and you don’t want to ever question what’s going on.

“But when you feel like you did something right and you look up and it’s not even close, you know that there’s a problem. And that was just kind of my breaking point in Phoenix.”

Koepka switched to a Spider Tour mallet putter, and he showed signs of life coming off the cut line and eventually tying for ninth in his last start at the Cognizant Classic.

“I felt like I had to make birdie from my approach play,” Koepka said of his putting woes. “I think that sometimes, if you’re not doing something well it can cost you. Just because you try to be maybe a little bit more aggressive or take on a pin that you normally wouldn’t have. Then somehow you end up in a horrible spot, and you’re looking at bogey with a wedge and you’re just sitting back in the middle of the fairway on the next hole, going ‘what was I doing; how did I just turn a birdie hole or a birdie opportunity into a bogey?’

“That was something that was just kind of eating at me, and … it felt like for a while there the only thing I was birdieing was a par-5 I was reaching in two or a par-4 that I was driving it pretty close to. I don’t know what my make percentage was outside of 10 feet, but it wasn’t very good.”

In six previous Players appearances, Koepka’s best finish is a tie for 11th in 2018. he admits he’s had particular trouble at the Stadium Course’s infamous par-3 17th, where he is a combined 20 over par.

“One year I made an 8 and a 7. Yeah, that wasn’t very good,” Koepka said. “But that 17th hole has gotten me over the years. I’ve played good rounds here; that’s just kind of the one bugaboo that always gets me.

“But it’s in the past. Nothing I can do about it. I hit the green yesterday (in practice), so I was pretty pumped about that.”

Almost as pumped as the guys getting a chance this week thanks to Koepka.