Brooks Koepka changed his phone number to help his PGA Tour 'reset'

PONTE VEDRA BEACH — If this were a month ago, Brooks Koepka 's phone would have been blowing up.

I can see the texts now:

"Dude, you've won five, not four!"

"How can you forget how many majors you have won?"

Because when asked if he were to win The Players Championship how many majors would he feel he's won, the Jupiter resident tripped himself up thinking about the answer, and attempting to say he does not consider The Players a major.

"It would be four," said the man who has won five major championships. "Wouldn't it? Or five, I guess. Yeah. Five."

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Koepka didn't have to worry about stepping down from podium and seeing an endless stream of texts. After the Phoenix Open, his second event since returning to the PGA Tour, Koepka changed his number.

Time to move on from the initial frenzy of leaving LIV Golf and returning to the PGA Tour.

"Just wanted a little bit of a reset," the 35-year-old Koepka said. "My phone was blowing up. So just wanted to really focus in on preparation and dialing into golf. I thought that was the best way to just kind of come unglued from the world for a half second.

"Only my family and anybody that's golf related really has my number right now, which is … it's been kind of nice."

Fewer texts to answer. Fewer calls to ignore. More time to work on a game that slipped his last two years on LIV.

And it wasn't much better at the Farmers (T56) and Phoenix (cut) before making progress at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches (T9).

Brooks Koepka feels like game is "starting to click"

Koepka comes into his first big event since returning at least feeling better about his game. After an opening-round 74 on the Champion Course at PGA National, he played the last three rounds in 13-under, including a closing 65.

Koepka's confidence is buoyed by his putting, which had been his undoing on the golf course of late.

"Felt like it started to click, I guess, Thursday afternoon after the round at Cognizant," he said. "Feel good, hitting it good. Just building momentum."

Every week is one more week removed from a decision that could open the floodgates and make it easier for LIV players to close up shop with the Saudi's and return to the Tour where most every one made their bones.

It already made it easier for Patrick Reed, who has started paying his penalties and will return to the Tour later this season or at the start of 2027.

Koepka anticipated a circus surrounding his return. He appeared OK with it and handled it flawlessly facing the questions that have come with each event.

But now it's time, as he says, to "kickoff" the most significant events on the golf calendar.

"This is kind of, in my eyes, the kickoff of the real heart of the golf season," he said.

If that's the case, it's time to get his game in gear. Koepka has had little success at The Players, the PGA Tour's flagship event, playing six times with one top 15 finish. In 16 rounds, he's broken 70 four times.

Koepka's last time at The Players (2022), he missed the cut after carding an 81 in the second round, at the time equaling the worst round of his career. It came on a cold, windy day that wrecked carnage on the field.

Especially at the signature 17th hole, where Koepka does not need any help to shoot a high score.

"That 17th hole has gotten me over the years," he said. "I've played good rounds here; that's just kind of the one bugaboo that always gets me."

Like in 2022. Koepka was one of the unfortunate ones to play 17 twice in one day. He was a combined 5-over (one double bogey, one triple).

To get an idea of how difficult it was to hit the island green, the day started with Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Koepka and Collin Morikawa all watching their tee shots create a splash. When the next man up, Rory McIlroy, stuck his tee shot 54 feet from the hole, the fans responded with a sarcastic cheer.

Koepka is 20-over in his career on No. 17, the worst on the PGA Tour since 2015. When he played the hole for the first time in four years during his practice round three days before the start of this year's tournament, he hit the green.

"I was pretty pumped about that," said Koepka, who also has had two quadruple-bogeys on the hole.

Small victories.

Brooks Koepka still being greeted by fans with a "welcome back"

Koepka is looking for more now that he's beyond the honeymoon phase of his PGA Tour return. He's much more relaxed given the warm reception, especially from the fans.

Even during his first practice round at TPC Sawgrass, he was greeted by several fans with a "welcome back."

Which comes at just the right time considering what's ahead on the schedule.

Koepka's launching his buildup to the Masters at The Players. He then is playing the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook and the Houston Open.

"Every time when you come to The Players you get a good idea of, hey, you've got a couple more weeks right before Augusta," he said. "If you got to make any changes, this is where it needs to happen.

"And it's a lot of fun, it's exciting, and just need to be on top of things."

Especially if he wants to win that fifth, I mean, sixth major.

Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Brooks Koepka forgets how many majors he's won preparing for Players