Brooks Koepka Admits to 'Choking' at the Masters, But Refocused for PGA

The four-time major champion was caught by Jon Rahm last month at Augusta, leading to a sleepless Sunday night.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Brooks Koepka’s final-round performance at the Masters last month led to a sleepless night and harsh self-assessment: he choked.

That’s what the four-time major champion said when doing a Barstool Sports podcast this week and he did not shy away from it Wednesday during a news conference in advance of the PGA Championship.

"It is choking, right?" Koepka said at Oak Hill Country Club, where the two-time PGA winner begins play on Thursday. “If you have a lead and cough it up, that’s choking. But at the same time, I’m not dwelling on it.

"I’ve been in that position a couple of times and haven’t capitalized. I can’t do it every time. I’m not perfect. As long as I can learn from it, I’ll be better from it."

Koepka, who was the 36-hole leader and led by four strokes on Sunday morning before a resumption of the third round, shot a final-round 75 and lost by four strokes to Jon Rahm. Koepka led by two strokes through 54 holes. He had previously converted all three 54-hole leads he had in majors.

But Rahm proved to be too much and Koepka couldn’t keep up, failing to make a birdie on the front nine as the lead slipped away.

"I reflected all Sunday night," he said. "I didn't sleep Sunday night just trying to figure out what exactly it was. Thought about it for a few days after and really honed in on what I was doing and what went wrong. From there just never let it happen again. That's the whole goal, right?

"You're not trying to dwell on it. Yeah, it sucks to finish second, but at the same time, as long as you learn from it, you'll be fine. I think I've finished fourth in, what, four or five majors now. Just trying to learn from each one of them."

Koepka, 33, won back-to-back U.S. Opens in 2017 and 2018 and back-to-back PGA Championships in 2018 and 2019. Starting in 2017, he has either a first or a second in eight of the 24 majors played.

In 2019, he was in contention to win a third straight U.S. Open, finishing runner-up to Gary Woodland. He was within two shots of the lead heading into the final round of the 2020 PGA won by Collin Morikawa. In the 2021 PGA, after suffering a knee injury that caused him to miss the cut at the Masters, he played in the final round, finishing second to Phil Mickelson. He also contended at the U.S. Open and the British Open that year.

Injuries had him doubting himself last year, when he missed the cut at the Masters and the British and was 55th at both the PGA and the U.S. Open. And all of that was amid his decision to join LIV Golf.

"I think there's a lot of stuff that went into that," Koepka said. “I was spending maybe five, six hours on just trying to get everything with my body the way I wanted it to. My knee was a lot worse, but it's fine now. So, you know, I can't look back, and I'm not looking back in the past. It is what it is. That happened, but I feel good now, so I'm just trying to focus on this week."

Koepka is coming off a tie for fifth at the LIV Tulsa event, where he missed a playoff by two shots. He previously won the Orlando event the week prior to the Masters.