Brooks Koepka: Still Rehabbing Knee, But Ready to Play

Brooks Koepka is still working his way back from knee problems that materialized last March.

The issue is with the left knee of Brooks Koepka, and as all right-handed golfers know, a lot of stress is placed there during the golf swing.

"“It’s a lot stronger. It’s stable. It feels good,” he said simply during the PGA Championship preview conference call."

Koepka originally had a torn patella tendon, which he played with last season.  He was treated with stem cell therapy after the Tour Championship.  He was fine through the Shriners tournament. Then all of a sudden, he wasn’t.

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"“In Korea, just slipped, and you know re-tore it, and the kneecap had moved into the fat pad, which, that’s excruciating. It’s a lot of pain. It’s not fun,” he explained at the tournament in Abu Dhabi."

He took a misstep on a concrete walkway.  However, surgery wasn’t required.  Just a long run of physical therapy which he still continues.

"“I’ll be honest with you. It doesn’t feel the same as my right (knee). It probably won’t for a while. But it does feel stable,” he elaborated. “Leaving Korea and all the way up to about a month and a half ago, it just doesn’t feel stable. It felt like it could go either way. It could go left, out, back. It could go any way.”"

He currently has a physical therapist traveling with him to continue rehab to make sure he doesn’t have problems in the future.

"“My knee is so much better. It’s really progressed a lot in the last month and a half,” he said on the call."

The good part about the comeback occurred when he was allowed to start practicing just before Christmas.

"“The first time I hit balls. Everything felt good. Speed was the same. We were hitting on TrakMan, and my numbers were exactly what they were the day I left,” he insisted. “Then I think from that moment on, after a couple days of hitting balls and not feeling pain, it was, okay, I could get back here and do this and finally play.”"

Walking is not a problem, he noted, although he said going downhill is not easy.

Going forward, Koepka is focused on preparing for tournaments, particularly majors, although he said the thinking is the same regardless.

"“You just try to go out there and figure out what the hole gives you, and depending where the pin is and what the miss is, there’s about 30 things that can come into play,” he said. “You get a wind direction, or the weather report comes in, whatever. It can change to anything in an instant.”"

Now that his injury is being managed and he feels he is able to play golf at the level that he expects to, Koepka is motivated to win more majors.

"“I’ve said it before.  Arnie, Jack, Tom Watson, Gary Player, all these guys.  I can’t tell you how many PGA Tour events they won, but I promise you, everybody knows how many majors they won,” he insisted."

Recapping for those who don’t.  Jack Nicklaus, 18.  Arnold Palmer, 7. Tom Watson, 8. Gary Player, 9.  And of course, Tiger Woods, 15.  Koepka, 4 and counting.