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Brooks Koepka loves returning to TPC Southwind. It’s not just because of last year’s victory in the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, or his two other top-3 finishes here.
“St. Jude’s always been a special place in my heart. FedEx is here. It’s an exciting week to be a member of the PGA TOUR,” Koepka said in Wednesday’s pre-tournament press conference. “It’s always been that place for me where I’ve been excited and I can’t wait to get to.”
Koepka is one of the many TOUR players who’s visited St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital during tournament week. It was a visit that still shapes his perspective.
“I was talking to our chef (this morning) about it before we were getting ready to come, how I was just thinking to myself, ‘It’s just golf,’” Koepka said. “I could be fighting for my life like some of these kids that are in the hospital. They’ve got a smile on their face. And yeah, I might be pissed off, I might be mad, but there’s no excuse for me not to have a good attitude and smile all the way through this, because I don’t have to deal with what they have to.”
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Koepka is currently fighting through a tough time in his career. He continues to struggle with a knee injury, and he has just one top-10 finish this season. He ranks 136th in the FedExCup with just three weeks remaining in the regular season. Contrast that to last year, when he was No. 1 in the FedExCup entering the Playoffs and the winner of the inaugural Wyndham Rewards Top 10.
His win here last year was a big part of that. It was his third victory of the season and came while playing alongside Rory McIlroy in Sunday’s final group. McIlroy started the final round with a one-shot lead after a Saturday 62, but Koepka’s final-round 65 was six shots better than his playing partner.
Koepka, who’s coming off a missed cut at the 3M Open, had the chance to work with short-game coach Pete Cowen on Sunday. It’s the first time he’s seen Cowen since THE PLAYERS Championship.
“If there ever was a good cut to miss, I think it was that one,” Koepka said Wednesday. “I feel like I’m getting better and better every day. I think last week I saw signs of it, made some adjustments this weekend as far as just seeing how scared I was to get on my left side. … You can battle through it all the time, but pain will make you adjust really quickly.”
THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER
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Source: PGA tour
