Is Brooks Koepka’s ‘secret glitch’ of the Masters solved

Returning to Augusta National in April, golf fans, players and pundits alike felt that Brooks Koepka would win his fifth major championship on Easter Sunday. After all, he entered the final day at The Masters with a four shot lead.

But on the 7th green in his third round—the first hole he and Jon Rahm played due to Saturday’s sweep—Koepka missed a par putt while Rahm birdied.

Just like that, his four shot lead dwindled to two, a harbinger of things to come.

Rahm won The Masters by four shots, while Koepka tied for second with Phil Mickelson.

A few weeks later, Gabby Herzig of Sports Illustrated spoke with Koepka swing coach Claude Harmon III.

In doing so, Harmon revealed that Koepka felt “devastated” after the 2023 Masters:

Koepka didn’t have the mental fortitude to overcome the bad break at Augusta.

Harmon noted that Koepka couldn’t get past what happened to him at the par-4 9th hole.

At this point, Koepka was sitting at 9-under par, 2-over for the round. He was already facing a two stroke deficit.

Koepka found the fairway off the tee and had his second shot to the left side of the green, but the damp conditions softened the course. Instead of his approach rolling to the side of the hole, the ball stayed on the slope, leading to a three-putt bogey.

“I think when you really want it, you can get into a headspace where you try not to take bad shots,” said Harmon. “As soon as you try not to take a bad shot at Augusta, you end up taking a bad shot, because it’s so hard. [and] mentally exhausting golf course.”

Indeed, Koepka never recovered. He finished with a 3-over-par 75.

Fast forward one month to the PGA Championship in Oak Hill, and Koepka looks like the best golfer on the planet.

Following his third round which saw him sit atop the leaderboard once again, Koepka was very sketchy. He admits to choking the Masters Tournament and talks about his ‘secret mistake’. But the five-time major winner vowed it would never happen again. When pressed what would be different, he refused to tell everyone what changes he would make.

It seems that less mental strength is the difference.

He remained steadfast throughout the week as he led the field in strokes gained overall en route to his two-stroke victory—his first major championship victory since the 2019 PGA Championship.

Koepka also doesn’t let anything bother him, unlike Augusta.

Take the 6th hole, for example. As Scottie Scheffler noted after his second round, the par 4 503 yards is one of the most challenging holes on the course. Allen’s Creek meanders down the right side of the fairway, then swings left and back of a complex complex of greens.

Koepka’s tee shot on Sunday found the penalty area, but his steady demeanor didn’t budge.

Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images

After going down, he stepped up, fired his third shot on the court, and hit two putts for a bogey.

He dropped another shot at 7, but again, he didn’t let the pressure get to him. He remained calm, cool, and collected—echoing Tiger Woods’ approach to major championships in the early 2000s.

From there, Koepka made four more birdies at the back nine and finished with a 3-under-par 67 to win the PGA Championship by two lengths over Viktor Hovland and Scheffler.

As a result, Koepka seems to have solved his “secret mistake”.

Watch the world, Koepka is back—and maybe better than ever.