Brooks Koepka becomes first LIV player to win second title, in excellent position heading to The Masters

Brooks Koepka says that he’s in great physical shape after his second LIV win, setting his gaze on The Masters next week.

Brooks Koepka had been the most feared golfer on the PGA Tour up until 2019, having won four majors by that point, achieving the No. 1 spot in the OWGR standings in 2018.

However, hip and knee injuries—the latter requiring surgery—throughout 2020 and 2021 stopped his momentum and stymied his confidence. Despite that, he still managed to impressively tie for second at the 2021 PGA Championship, right behind Phil Mickelson, who became the oldest golfer to win a major at age 50.

Last June, Koepka’s decision to join the LIV Golf League—backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund—was of course met with controversy, as it had been for everyone else who signed up for the lucrative, renegade league.

The move paid off last fall, with the 32-year-old ending a 20-month winless draught. Koepka won his first LIV title in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, an accomplishment that allowed him to put his injury fears behind him.

Now with a second LIV victory secured in Orlando, winning by one shot over Sebastián Muñoz with a 15-under at the Orange County National on Sunday, Koepka took home the $4M prize money along with a quarter of team Smash GC’s second place finish for $1.5M ($375,000 per team member). Muñoz’s team, Torque GC took home first place and a shared pool of the $5M team purse.

“You look at everything I’ve been through, I’m finally healthy,” Koepka said after winning, according to ESPN. “It’s good to play some good golf. I get chills thinking what I’m capable of.”

With the Orlando win, the eight-time PGA Tour winner is the only player among the 48-person roster to hold two titles on the LIV tour. It also gives him a boost of confidence as he heads into hostile waters at the Augusta National Golf Club next week.

Although some folks had criticized the Crooked Cat course at Orange County National, the Florida native noted that the course provided the optimum preparation for next week’s Masters event.

“I actually think this was a good test for Augusta greens,” Koepka said. “The greens were fast, similar to Augusta and on some good slopes. I’m just happy to get the win.”

“Going into next week, that’s what you want to see,” Koepka said, via ESPN.

The Masters is one of two majors that have eluded him, including The Open. The closest he came was in 2019 where he lead for the first two rounds, but then watched Tiger Woods come from behind for one of the most exciting comebacks in golf history, the last major Woods won. Koepka will be looking to improve his second place tie from that year.

A lot’s changed since 2019, globally and in the game of golf. All the bad blood between the rival tours aside, a fully fit Koepka will be a formidable one. Afterall, the two-time PGA and U.S. Open winner has an excellent record in majors: they represent half of his PGA wins.