Brooks Koepka embarrassed by slide to No. 20 in world rankings
Brooks Koepka is in a great position to defend his title at TPC Scottsdale just one round into the WM Phoenix Open.
Yet Koepka isn’t happy.
In fact, he’s embarrassed.
Koepka hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since last season’s WM Phoenix Open, and has slid to No. 20 in the Official World Golf Rankings. Though that’s still impressive, it’s his lowest spot on the list since 2017.
"That's embarrassing to be 20th, I feel like," Koepka said. "A lot of it has to do with injury, man. I've been hurt, on the sidelines, not playing, playing through injury, you can't compete with guys out here.
"It's nice to be somewhat healthy and get out here, and I mean, I'm not too worried about it. It will bounce back up."
Koepka’s season isn’t off to a great start. The eight-time Tour winner has missed three cuts in six starts, including at the Farmers Insurance Open two weeks ago. His best finish, outside of the unofficial Hero World Challenge, came with a T28 finish at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
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Koepka, though, said he’s “pretty damn healthy” after a lengthy knee, hip and neck injuries.
“You're never 100%. No athlete's ever 100%,” Koepka said. “But like I said, if you're not healthy, man, it's not easy. But at the same time I mean there's nobody out here that's shooting to be No. 2 in the world. So if you are, you're probably playing the wrong — [you] shouldn't be playing. So 19 spots to go.”
Koepka opened with a 5-under 66 on Thursday in Arizona, and sits just two shots back from leader Sahith Theegala — who had two holes left before the first round was suspended due to darkness. Though he has a long way to go to successfully defend his title, Koepka is feeling great with 18 holes under his belt.
“Listen, I’ve been playing good for a while, so I think everybody on my team expected this,” he said. “But yeah, I mean I do like the course. Two wins here it would be tough to say you don’t like it.”
