[Photo: Kate McShane]
Brooks Koepka ended his season in fine fashion with an eagle from 40 feet on the iconic 18th hole at the Old Course in St Andrews. It was good for a final-round 66 at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, which delivered a tie for sixth place. He finished the week at 16-under total, four behind winner Adrian Meronk.
Koepka had been vocal that he was miffed at how he played on the PGA Tour this year. Now ranked 129th in the world, the five-time major champion missed four cuts during the PGA Tour season, had to withdraw in Canada and his best finish was a ninth-place tie at the Cognizant Classic at PGA National. He did deal with pain in his arm and hand for a few weeks during the northern summer when he was unable to grip a golf club properly.
But still, he tied for 67th place at the Wyndham Championship, the PGA Tour’s last regular-season event, and missed the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
“I think it’s pretty pathetic that I can’t get through,” Koepka said that week in North Carolina. “Zero top-10s basically in two years. To be in the prime of your career and be as good as I think I am, I think that’s very pathetic, disappointing. Just need to go home and completely re-evaluate everything.”
Koepka, 36, has since played three times in Europe, including this past week in Scotland. He tied for 55th place at the Irish Open, missed the cut at the BMW PGA Championship and then closed with the eagle on the Old Course to shoot 66. On the final hole he ripped at 308-metre drive onto the green and converted the putt from what the DP World Tour said was 41 feet, although it looks a bit closer than that.
Still, it’s just now the start of October, but Koepka’s wife, Jena, posted a video on social media of their son Crew watching his father make eagle on the 18th hole. The caption said, “Keck of a way to end the season, BK.”
For anyone hoping to see Koepka play a late-season event on the PGA Tour, that doesn’t appear to be the case. He started the week 98th in FedEx Cup standings and it’s important to remain inside the top 100 as those players all secure exempt status on the PGA Tour for next year. But Koepka’s victory at the 2023 PGA Championship gave him exempt status on the PGA Tour through 2028. Yes, that was not the case when he played for LIV Golf, but after he accepted the terms of the Returning Member Program and was reinstated back onto the PGA Tour, his exemption through 2028 now stands.
