Brooks Koepka

Brooks Koepka ( KEP-kə; born May 3, 1990) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He is a former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. Koepka has won five major championships.

After playing collegiately for the Florida State Seminoles, Koepka turned professional in 2012 and achieved a three-win promotion on the Challenge Tour in 2013, which secured status on the European Tour. He won his first European Tour title at the Turkish Airlines Open in 2014 and his first PGA Tour title at the Phoenix Open in 2015.

Koepka won his first major championship at the 2017 U.S. Open, which spearheaded a streak of major victories. He defended his title at the 2018 U.S. Open, and won both the 2018 and 2019 PGA Championship. In 2022, Koepka joined LIV Golf. In the following years, he won multiple LIV Golf events and added his fifth major championship at the 2023 PGA Championship. He left the LIV Golf League and returned to the PGA Tour in 2026.

Early life and amateur career

Born in West Palm Beach, Florida, on May 3, 1990, Koepka was raised in Lake Worth, and attended Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach.

Koepka played college golf at Florida State University in Tallahassee, where he won three events and was a three-time All-American. He qualified for the 2012 U.S. Open as an amateur, but missed the cut by six strokes.

Professional career

Early years, European Tour success

In the summer of 2012, Koepka turned professional and began playing on the Challenge Tour in Europe. He won his first title in September at the Challenge de Catalunya. In 2013, he had his second victory on the Challenge Tour, winning the 2013 Montecchia Golf Open. He followed this a month later with his third win, the Fred Olsen Challenge de España, where he set the tournament record, 260 (−24), and won by a record 10 strokes.

Three weeks later, he had his third win of the year at the Scottish Hydro Challenge. With those three wins, he earned his European Tour card for the remainder of the 2013 season and for the full 2014 season. The day after his third Challenge Tour win of 2013, Koepka qualified for the 2013 Open Championship. Koepka made his debut as a member of the European Tour (he played in three events prior to promotion to membership) at the Scottish Open, finishing T12.

On the 2014 European Tour, Koepka won the Turkish Airlines Open and finished third at the Dubai Desert Classic and Omega European Masters, and ninth at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He ranked 8th in the 2014 Race to Dubai rankings and was named the European Tour's Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year.

PGA Tour

On the 2014 PGA Tour, Koepka played a few events on sponsor's exemptions and through open qualifying. In his first event of the year, Koepka led after the second and third rounds of the Frys.com Open. He finished tied for third. At the U.S. Open, he collected a fourth-place finish, which earned him his first PGA Tour card, for the 2014–15 season, and his first Masters invitation. He was 15th at the PGA Championship, and was nominated for the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year award.

On February 1, 2015, Koepka won his first PGA Tour event, the Waste Management Phoenix Open and moved to 19th in the Official World Golf Ranking. At the 2015 Open Championship, Koepka improved every day and a final round 68 vaulted him into a tie for 10th at the Old Course at St Andrews. The next week, Koepka was tied for fourth after 54 holes at the RBC Canadian Open but a final round 74 pushed him down to a tie for 18th at the Glen Abbey Golf Course. He then tied for 6th at the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and tied for 5th at the 2015 PGA Championship. In 2015, he chose to give up his European Tour membership.

Koepka finished tied for 4th at the 2016 PGA Championship. In November 2016, Koepka won the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in Japan.

2017–2019: Major championship streak, rise to world number one

In 2017, Koepka won his first major championship by claiming the U.S. Open title at Erin Hills, Wisconsin. His win tied him for the record of the lowest U.S. Open score at 16 under (tied with Rory McIlroy's 2011 record).

Koepka had to undergo wrist surgery after the 2017 season and had hoped that his recuperation would be complete in time for the 2018 Masters Tournament but he had to withdraw, saying that he was only 80% fit. He recovered to successfully defend his U.S. Open title at Shinnecock Hills, becoming the first player since Curtis Strange in 1989 to win consecutive U.S. Open titles, which has occurred only seven times. He won his third major at the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club to become only the fifth player, and the first since Tiger Woods in 2000, to win the U.S. Open and the PGA titles in the same year.

At the 2018 Ryder Cup, an errant tee shot by Koepka struck a female spectator and caused a globe rupture of her right eye resulting in her losing vision in that eye. Also at the Ryder Cup, it was rumored that Koepka and teammate Dustin Johnson got into a feud over some personal issues but Koepka denied these claims saying, "This Dustin thing I don't get, there is no fight, no argument, he's one of my best friends. People like to make a story and run with it. It's not the first time there's been a news story that isn't true that has gone out."

On October 21, 2018, Koepka won the CJ Cup, and the win moved him to number one in the Official World Golf Ranking.

On May 19, 2019, Koepka won the 2019 PGA Championship, the first to successfully defend the PGA Championship since Tiger Woods in 2007. With his win in this major championship, Koepka regained the #1 position in the Official World Golf Ranking.

On July 28, 2019, Koepka won the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. By doing so, he won $1,745,000 and clinched the season-long Wyndham Rewards Top 10 Challenge and an additional $2,000,000.

On August 4, 2019, Koepka clinched the season-long Aon Risk Reward Challenge and another $1,000,000 for the 2018–19 season. This challenge selects one hole in every participating event and designates it as the Aon Risk Reward hole for that week. The challenge rewards the player who has the best two scores from every participating event that a player competes in throughout the season, measured by the lowest average score to par on these holes.

Koepka won the PGA of America Player of the Year award for the second consecutive year.

Koepka qualified for the 2019 Presidents Cup but withdrew because of a knee injury and was replaced by Rickie Fowler on November 20, 2019. His caddie since 2013 is Ricky Elliott.

2020: Injury problems

Koepka was plagued by hip and knee pains for the majority of the season and, in August 2020, withdrew from competition prior to the FedEx Cup playoffs.

In February 2021, Koepka won the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona. Koepka overcame a five-shot deficit on the final day, with a 6-under-par 65. This was his second win at the event. Koepka underwent knee surgery on March 16, 2021. In May 2021, Koepka finished in a tie for second place at the 2021 PGA Championship. A final round 74 saw him finish two shots behind Phil Mickelson; who became the oldest major champion at the age of 50. In September 2021, Koepka played on the U.S. team in the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin. The U.S. team won 19–9 and Koepka went 2–2–0 including a win in his Sunday singles match against Bernd Wiesberger. Koepka won The Match on November 26 against rival Bryson DeChambeau at the Wynn Las Vegas.

Move to LIV Golf, fifth major title

In June 2022, Koepka joined the LIV Golf Invitational Series and made his debut in Portland. He made his decision despite suggesting four months prior that golfers would "sell out" and join LIV Golf. Koepka was subsequently suspended by the PGA Tour for playing in the LIV Golf Invitational Series. In October 2022, Koepka won the LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah in a playoff over Peter Uihlein for his first LIV Golf win.

In April 2023, Koepka won the LIV Golf Orlando event. The following week, he finished tied for second at the 2023 Masters Tournament, 4 shots behind Jon Rahm. Koepka started the final day of the tournament with a 4 stroke lead and having to play 30 holes after the third round was delayed due to weather.