SOUTHAMPTON, New York — Brooks Koepka’s feeling is coming back — in multiple ways — which is a dangerous thing on the eve of a U.S. Open.
Koepka played nine holes at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Tuesday, his first time teeing it up here since he won the 2018 U.S. Open.
“I feel just as good,” form-wise as in 2018, he said. “I think ball striking is even better than what it’s been. Putting, I had a great week putting last week.”
But it wasn’t an overall great week. Koepka withdrew before the final round of the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday due to numbness in his left ring and pinkie fingers.
He noticed the issue while watching a show last Friday night, playing with his wrist.
“Very weak and kind of a tingly feeling, as if you kind of hit your funny bone,” he said.
Koepka received treatment from a physio and after scans believes his ulnar nerve flared up. In the last four days, he went from not being able to hold onto a club to his grip strength becoming not quite 100%, but “good enough.”
Koepka, the last man to win back-to-back U.S. Opens in 2017 and 2018, will try to become the second man to win a third in the last 35 years after Tiger Woods.
A sixth major overall would move him back into a tie with Rory McIlroy for the most by an active Tour player.
In returning to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf this year, he has six top-20s, but no finish better than a tie for ninth.
Yet Shinnecock — which McIlroy called “the best championship test in the country” — is a natural fit for Koepka.
“I enjoy being pushed to the limit,” he said after winning in 2018. “Sometimes you feel like you are about to break mentally, but that’s what I enjoy. I enjoy hard golf courses. I enjoy playing about the toughest in golf you are ever going to play.”
