He says most of the celebration will come “behind closed doors,” but that Brooks Koepka will enjoy that victory.
He knows that at some point, his right knee won’t cooperate anymore.
Before 32-year-old Koepke knocked out Peter Ohlin in the third round of Playoff III on Sunday at the Leaf golf tournament in Jeddah, he hadn’t lifted a trophy anywhere since winning the 2021 Phoenix Open. In his first four starts since joining Coming to the exclusively Saudi-backed circuit in late June, Koepka did not score in the top 10, as he tied for eighth place last week in Thailand, Koepka’s first back-to-back meeting since February – all while still shooting. He had a lot of knee and hip injuries.
“I didn’t know if my career was over for half a second,” Kopke said. “I told [instructor] Claude [Harmon III] (who went back to work with him a few months ago) I wasn’t sure if I would play. It’s good to be able to come back and win.”
Koepke’s knee problems began in August 2019, when he underwent stem cell therapy to repair a partially torn left patellar tendon, but re-rupted the tendon after slipping into the CJ Cup in September that month and missing three months. In 2020, he overcompensated the knee to the point that it exacerbated the fissure in his left thigh.
The following year, shortly after his victory in Phoenix, Koepke suffered a breakdown of his right knee “dislocated and fractured”. Despite undergoing surgery, he returned to playing the Masters less than two months later. Even earlier this year, Kupka wasn’t quite the same.
“The past two years have not been fun,” Koepka said. “It’s been a long way.”
Koepke recently said he feels healthier than ever, but on Sunday offered some thoughts on his long-term health.
“It was before LIV, when I blew my knees and oriented my legs this way, almost back and sides,” Kupka said. “Credit to Dr. [Neal] Al-Atrash threw his name there. I mean I will eventually have to have a knee replacement in a few years, but I wasn’t sure if I could move the same way and if I wanted to play if I could move the way I wanted to.
“I have luck [to] To be where I am now.”
Koepka, the four-time main champion and former world number one, dropped to 33rd in the official world golf rankings. Since LIV has not secured any world ranking points yet, it is not in line for the big jump after Sunday’s win.
Instead, he’ll be looking forward to the end of the LIV season, specifically the team’s race, in two weeks’ time at Trump Doral.
“Honestly, for me, the important thing today is to beat the team,” said Koepke, who shares a team with Ohlin, Jason Kokork and brother Chase Koepke. “I told my brother I would buy him a Lambo if we win the team, so now, I have to go buy one.”
“Lime Green”, Chase Chem.
Ohlin then added, “The team, yeah, we’re in the lead for Miami, and that’s what we want to do.”
“That’s the important thing,” Koepka concluded.
Koepka’s priorities have definitely changed a bit, haven’t they?
But no matter what Koepke hopes to achieve in the future, if the knee replacement schedule is accurate, the window is short.