With the azaleas of Augusta National just 2 weeks away, Brooks Koepka knows what he needs to do to give himself a fair chance. He is self-analyzing, and it has led to some big equipment changes, revelations, and positive mental shifts.

“I like the way the game’s trending. Sometimes it’s not always about the finishes; it’s about how I feel, and I feel very good, very confident going into Augusta in a few weeks,” Brooks Koepka said ahead of the Houston Open. “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.”

In the recent events, he didn’t seem to enjoy the process. He has been hitting the center of the greens, and despite being a bit aggressive, he ended up making a few double bogeys that significantly affected his stance: a double bogey on the final hole at THE PLAYERS Championship and another one on the 70th at the Valspar Championship. These came when he was in a position for a top-10 finish. He bogeyed 9 holes last week at Copperhead, and four of them were on the back nine. This was bad, but now it is beginning to change.

“My game is rounding into form. I can see it. I don’t know if maybe results-wise, it probably hasn’t looked that way, but I can see it as a whole; it’s really all starting to come together.”

That lack of top-tier results hides a significant improvement in his ball-striking, and we can credit his equipment change for that. He switched to the TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter and Pro V1x ball in February. This helped him card a 6-under-66 at the Cognizant Classic on Friday to make the cut. It’s the same putter that Scottie Scheffler uses. Now that the flatstick has helped him, he is feeling confident.

The 5x major winner’s major issue with putting was his mindset coming into the field. He used to feel like he had to birdie a particular hole right from the fairway or the tee box. Now, he’s bringing back the version of Koepka that dominated the field seven to nine years ago.

“Now I can sit back and kind of play golf how I used to play in ’17 and ’19, kind of in that run when I was playing very well, where I can be very patient and just kind of wait my time,” the 21-time PGA Tour winner continued. “I know I’m going to have five good chances on whatever hole it might be and then just take advantage from there.”

2017-2019 is the stretch when Brooks Koepka began winning the major tournaments. In 2017, he won the U.S. Open and defended his title successfully in 2018. He also won the PGA Championship that year, and then in 2019, he finished second at the Masters. He then went on to win the PGA Championship before finishing second at the U.S. Open. It was certainly Koepka’s best run in his professional career.

In 2026, he finished T56 at the Farmers Insurance Open and then missed the cut in Phoenix. Things started to change at the Cognizant Classic, where he finished ninth, and then at THE PLAYERS Championship and the Valspar Championship, he finished in the top 20. Now that he is regaining his form, is he really ready to ace Augusta National?

Brooks Koepka highlights his final prep for the Masters

The Texas Children’s Houston Open is Brooks Koepka’s last PGA Tour event before the Masters Tournament. This start can help him gauge his preparation for Augusta National. His last win came at LIV Golf Greenbrier, back in August 2024. His 2025 season was ineffective with five missed cuts. And we all know how he’s been performing on the PGA Tour. But he knows the need to feel like a winner again.

“I just need to be able to put myself there and get those feelings again,” Koepka admitted. “And especially out here, competing against unbelievable players on a difficult golf course would be what I need to do for the final prep for Augusta.”

“As I said to you just a couple of minutes ago, the way this place is set up with the rough length and the way it’s mowed back into you feels very similar to Augusta in that aspect. Around the greens, you’re going to have quite a few undulations around these greens.”

Koepka is confident and needs to nail those last nine holes to get it going. Whether he can find that competitive fire in Houston will be the ultimate test of his Masters readiness.”