PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – The higher the scores, the better.
That’s Brooks Koepka’s take on this week’s Honda Classic on the windswept, difficult Champion Course at PGA National.
Then again, that’s Koepka’s golf DNA – the tougher, the better. He doesn’t like pitch-and-putt courses where the rough is light, the greens are painless, bogeys are rare and scoreboards bleed red numbers.
Koepka prefers a fight with the course, where par is your friend and struggles are real.
“I like difficult courses,” Koepka said Wednesday ahead of the Honda Classic. “I can’t compete when it’s 30 under, 25 under every week. That’s not me. I’m not going to go out and shoot 66, 65 every round.
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“Probably why you see U.S. Opens, I’m pretty much contending every time, and the more difficult tracks I seem to do better. That’s kind of our M.O., the history I’ve looked at it. I think maybe four or five times I shot (better than) 18 under, that’s about it, but the rest of the time when it’s difficult I’m usually right there.”
Actually, it’s been six times he’s bettered 18 under. On two of those occasions, he won: the 2021 WM Phoenix Open (19 under) and the 2018 CJ Cup (21 under).
But Koepka has shined the brightest on the biggest and most difficult stages – the majors. Half of his eight PGA Tour titles have come in majors. Starting with the 2016 PGA Championship, Koepka has 13 top-10s in 18 major starts. He missed just one cut in this streak and won the U.S. Open in 2017 and 2018 and the PGA Championship in 2018 and 2019. He also had three runner-up finishes, including last year in the PGA Championship, which came before he tied for fourth in the U.S. Open and tied for sixth in the Open Championship.
While this week’s Honda Classic is not a major, the Champion Course at PGA National renovated by Jack Nicklaus will provide a similar, stern test. Since moving to PGA National in 2007, there have been only four double-digit under-par winning scores in the event. Considering the forecast – harsh winds – and the course, one will be hard-pressed to get to double-digits.
“Fairways are nice and tight. It’ll be difficult chipping around the green. Rough is getting a little bit thicker. Greens look like they could use a little bit of water. Hopefully they don’t die out there come Sunday because they are pretty brown,” said Koepka, who missed last year’s Honda with a knee injury and has a tie for second in 2019 as his best finish. “It’s a tough test, especially when the wind blows. You’re going to see even-par always being a pretty good score here.”
Koepka, coming off a missed cut in the Genesis Invitational, which followed up a tie for third in the WM Phoenix Open, is in the middle of moving to a new residence in Jupiter, Florida, about 10-15 minutes away. The former world No. 1, who is ranked 15th, doesn’t relish the home game like so many others do.
“I’d say probably more disadvantages than advantages,” he said about playing near his home. “Phone blows up a lot more, a lot more people wanting tickets, more people wanting to go to dinner. I don’t do that in a normal week. I’m pretty much locked in my house and only see the golf course and the gym.
“It’s different. You’re used to having things in a suitcase. I know it sounds weird, but when I’m in my own home sometimes, I just moved, so literally trying to find stuff isn’t always the easiest, but when you’ve got it all packed in a couple bags, it makes it a lot easier. Just odds and ends, making sure everybody is taken care of, family, some friends, things like that, so it makes it a little bit more difficult.”
Sounds like he’ll be in the right frame of mind heading to the Honda each day.
“I like the way I’m playing,” he said. “Like the way I’m putting, like the way everything seems to be coming together and rounding into form.”