Brooks Koepka generated major excitement when he walked away from LIV Golf last year. Thanks to the ‘Returning Member Program,’ his path back to the PGA Tour was seamless, and expectations quickly skyrocketed. However, the comeback hasn’t gone as planned. The former LIV standout has struggled to find consistency, and his latest appearance at the Houston Open only added to the disappointment.

“I do feel like [my game] is ready. The only thing is I really haven’t put myself in contention with nine holes to go. That’s really the last missing piece that I feel like I need to accomplish here before Augusta,” said the US golfer. 

For the second time in this season, Koepka has missed the cut. At the Houston Open, Koepka recorded a -1.7 SG in ball striking and 3.2 SG in putting. And that was not all. He also had a total of 3 double bogeys and 1 triple bogey.

Back in February, Koepka had another similar situation when he missed another cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. With a score of +2(144), the returning star had quite the dampener of a performance. In turn, all of these showings have made one thing sure: Koepka is nowhere near his goal that he shared a few days back. The former LIV golfer admitted to his poor form. He pointed out how he has been messing up with his putting in recent times. 

He had a 75-69, marking a disappointing performance despite his high confidence entering the week, despite his involvement in the course’s redesign. 

To add to that, while Koepka had the first spot on Tour in strokes-gained approach entering the week, he was 127th in strokes-gained putting. Initially, his results seemed to have improved as he switched to the TaylorMade Spider mallet putter. Yet, Houston turned out to be a different story after losing three strokes on the greens.

This comes after Koepka admitted, in his first PGA Tour start since 2022 at the Farmers Insurance Open, that he had to improve his putting since he ranked last in Strokes Gained: Putting at Torrey Pines.

Now, this should raise concerns for the upcoming Masters. However, one can argue that Koepka can be trusted when the pressure is on. Five of his nine tour victories have come in such high-stakes games. He had 20 major appearances between 2016 and 2021 and still finished with just one missed cut, four wins, and 13 top-10 finishes.

And when 2023 brought concerns about his form and future, Koepka tied for second at the Masters before winning the PGA Championship. So, he should be able to make a serious run for it at the 2026 Masters.

Brooks Koepka reflects on regaining form ahead of the Masters after recent struggles

Brooks Koepka had a strong resume before he became a part of the Saudi-backed league back in June 2022. And now, as he got reinstated to the PGA Tour, he has five major wins against his name alongside only four wins at non-major events. However, after joining LIV Golf, as it appears, Koepka lost his best form. But now, after returning to the tour, Koepka feels that he might slowly be gaining back his lost calibre and techniques.

“Game feels really good. Ball striking it really well, and each week I’m feeling more and more comfortable with my changes in putting. Feel a lot more confident with the putter. Game feels like it’s rounding into form very nicely, right in time for Augusta, so very happy with it,” said Koepka.

Looking forward to the 2026 Masters, he further analysed his gameplay and added, “I still feel like there are a couple of things where I could be a lot better. I found out my driver was a little cracked last week so that might have been a little of the spray off the tee and the spin rate wasn’t right.”

Well, that should alert every contender. If Koepka really does get back to his 2018/19 form at the Masters, then the competition is bound to be much harder.