Brooks Koepka Remains Positive Despite Abysmal Putting Performance At Torrey Pines

On paper, Brooks Koepka’s highly anticipated return to the PGA Tour was unremarkable. A T-56 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open, where he barely made the cut and ended up 19 shots behind the champion, doesn’t scream success. However, a deeper look at his performance reveals a much more optimistic story, one that should have the rest of the golf world on high alert as the 2026 season gets underway.

Brooks Koepka: Advanced Stats Tells A Different Story

Despite a scorecard that suggests rust, Koepka’s ball-striking was elite. The only thing that held him back was a disastrous performance with the putter. Yet, in his typically confident fashion, Koepka is walking away from Torrey Pines feeling better about his game than his score would indicate, signaling a dangerous sign for his competitors.

Elite Ball-Striking Meets a Cold Putter

Anyone who only glanced at the leaderboard would miss the real story of Koepka’s week. From tee to green, he looked like the five-time major champion of old. Across his three rounds on the difficult South Course, he gained an average of 2.02 strokes on the field from tee to green. This impressive performance ranked him 11th in the field in that category.

His stats tell a compelling story:

• Around the Green: He ranked 3rd in Strokes Gained: Around the Green.
• Off the Tee: He ranked 25th in driving distance and gained strokes off the tee in two of his three measured rounds.
• Approach Play: He consistently gained strokes on his approach shots throughout the week.

The data shows a player in total control of his golf ball. The problem was what happened once the ball got to the green. Koepka’s putting struggles were historic. He finished dead last in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting, losing a staggering 7.23 strokes to the field over the week. On Saturday alone, he lost nearly 5.5 strokes on the greens, a number rarely seen from a professional of his caliber.

A three-putt bogey on his final hole Saturday, after having a 55-foot look for eagle, perfectly encapsulated his week. He was simply let down by the flat stick.

“It Can’t Get Any Worse, Right?”

True to form, Koepka was blunt but not discouraged when asked about his putting woes after his third round. Instead of showing frustration, he exuded a quiet confidence, focusing on the strength of his ball-striking.

“Game feels good,” Koepka said. “I think putting is probably last in the field, but I never really putted well here. Don’t know the answer to it right now… But I’m very happy with everything. Seems to be lining up, so I’m very pleased.”

He acknowledged his historical discomfort on the West Coast’s Poa annua greens, a surface notoriously difficult for players who grew up on Bermuda grass. “I’ve never felt comfortable on Poa,” he admitted. “You just miss a few and you’ve got zero confidence.”

However, he refused to blame the course conditions, stating, “These greens are actually really, really good. It has nothing to do with the greens; it’s all me.”

This ownership of his struggles, combined with his satisfaction with the rest of his game, is a positive sign. Putting is often the most volatile part of a golfer’s performance. Strong tee-to-green play, on the other hand, is a far more reliable indicator of a player’s underlying form. The fact that his ball-striking is already sharp suggests that once the putter warms up, he will be right back in contention.

A Positive Outlook for the 2026 Season

Koepka’s performance at the Brooks Koepka Farmers Insurance Open should be seen as a massive success, despite the final score. He entered the week with low expectations after a lackluster 2025 season on the LIV Golf circuit. He answered any questions about his form by demonstrating world-class ball-striking at one of the PGA Tour’s toughest venues.

He now heads to the WM Phoenix Open, a tournament he has won twice. TPC Scottsdale features a different style of green surface that has historically suited his eye. In all five of his previous starts there, he has gained strokes putting.

If the elite tee-to-green game he displayed at Torrey Pines travels with him to Arizona, and he finds even an average week with the putter, Koepka could easily find himself atop the leaderboard. His optimism is not unfounded; it’s based on the part of his game that truly matters for long-term success. The rest of the PGA Tour has been put on notice: Brooks Koepka is back, and he’s striking the ball as well as ever.