Defending champ Brooks Koepka in 'good shape' at Valhalla

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Brooks Koepka was considered one of the heavy favorites heading into the Masters last month.

But the five-time major champion never threatened, shooting nine-over par and finishing tied for 45th at Augusta. His poor play led to him recently saying he was "embarrassed" by his play.

"Everybody put in a lot of hard work," Koepka said of his team heading into the Masters. "Dedicated a lot of time and effort and then for me to go out and play like that is not what I expect of myself, I don't think what they expect of me.

"So yeah, just we had a good talk and just kind of put our nose down and kept grinding. You know, had some difficult punishment workouts. It was long hours on the range. Just worked with everybody and really tried to go back to the fundamentals, and I think that was the important thing."

Koepka responded by claiming the individual title at the LIV Golf Singapore event and this week he's one of the favorites for the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club.

The 34-year-old Koepka has won the PGA three times, including last year at Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y.

"I feel like my game is in good shape right now," he said. "It will be interesting to see how the course plays. It's a little bit wet right now. I don't know if we are going to get any rain this afternoon. Looks like it. Yeah, it's in great shape; it's just as I remember.

"Obviously changed the grass in the fairways. I think it's made it a little easier to chip off of, but yeah, it's a good track, big-boy golf course. But I feel good."

The best round at the Masters for Koepka was a 73 on each of the first two days, followed by a 76 and a 75. He said his swing was a little off and blamed the weather at his home course in Jupiter, Fla.

"It's kind of funny, it's been windy," he said. "It feels like it's blowing 20 miles an hour every time we hit balls from pretty much February on, and every time we seemed to play it was blowing 25 or 30. My ball position just got back. Back with everything.

"All the way through the bag, even with the putter. So wasn't able to see the start lines. I like to see it start a little bit left of the target and then kind of fade it back, and it was kind of starting on target or a little bit right, and I had the both-way miss, which isn't good. But just it to go back to fundamentals, so that was it."

Koepka took the week after the Masters off, noting it was always the plan to help him recharge his energy.

After the break, Koepka returned to play and finished T9 at LIV Golf Adelaide before winning in Singapore.

"I think no matter how I play in the majors, I feel like I'm not physically exhausted, just mentally, just the grind of what I put myself through or what goes on for the previous weeks of the prep," he said. "It's just a lot more intense. I enjoy taking the week off after. It's kind of enjoyable."

Koepka said he feels good about his game heading into the PGA. He was on the course all three days prior to Thursday's start, checking out the lay of the land at Valhalla.

"The majors are different than everything else," he said. "The majors are -- they just have a different feel than any other golf tournament. I've always enjoyed it and they are always tougher golf courses. That's something I get up for.

"It's always the peak of our sport for the four times a year we play in majors."

--Jody Demling, Field Level Media