AUGUSTA, Ga. — Brooks Koepka arrived at Augusta National on Sunday afternoon to practice and play a few holes. Whether he tees it up on Thursday for the start of the Masters will play out over the coming days.
Koepka, 30, had surgery on his right knee on March 16 to deal with a kneecap dislocation and ligament damage. The injury occurred, he said, while with family in Florida approximately 10 days earlier. The four-time major champion, who is ranked 12th in the world, finished tied for second in his last event at the WGC-Workday Championship on Feb. 28. He missed scheduled starts at the Players Championship and Honda Classic.
Koepka had the surgery in California and his caddie, Rickie Elliott, said he did not do much golfwise since, aside from some practice at Riviera Country Club.
He hit about 70 balls during his practice session, went to the putting green for 10 minutes, then went to register for the tournament. He walked slowly and carefully up and down a set of stairs before heading to the first tee with Viktor Hovland. Elliott said he was going to likely play four holes “and see how it goes.”
After a frustrating 2020 that saw Koepka slowed by problems with his left knee and hip — keeping him out of the U.S. Open and from qualifying for the FedEx Cup playoffs — things had turned around this year.
He won the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Feb. 7, his eighth PGA Tour victory and first since the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage Black. Later that year is when issues with his left knee surfaced.
He had a stem cell treatment soon after the Tour Championship, then returned in the fall only to reinjure the knee at a tournament in South Korea. That kept him from playing in the Presidents Cup, and in early 2020 he fell from the No. 1 spot in the Official World Ranking.
Koepka tied for seventh at the Masters in November and tied for second in 2019, a stroke behind Tiger Woods.