Brooks Koepka at the PGA Championship: Tee time, odds to win, putter switch, more
Defending champion Brooks Koepka is chasing back-to-back wins at the PGA Championship for the second time in his career this week at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
Koepka, a Cardinal Newman graduate, is the tournament's reigning champion after his victory last year at Oak Hill Country Club in New York, his third PGA Championship title.
One of the winningest all-time players in the PGA Championship, Koepka enters Thursday's opening round as a tournament favorite once again as he chases his sixth career major championship.
He'll enter the tournament with momentum after a winning performance in his last outing at LIV Golf Singapore in late April.
Major coverage: How many LIV golfers in PGA Championship field? And how did they qualify?
Brooks Koepka PGA Championship pairing and tee time
Koepka will play in a group with Max Homa and Jordan Spieth over the first two rounds at the PGA Championship.
The group will tee off at 8:37 a.m. for Thursday's first round and will begin at 2:02 p.m. in Friday's second round.
Brooks Koepka odds to win PGA Championship
Koepka currently is tied for the fourth-best odds to win the tournament at +1400 per Hard Rock Sportsbook. He has the same odds as Spain's Jon Rahm.
Scottie Scheffler (+375), Rory McIlroy (+650) and Xander Schauffele (+1200) are the only players with better odds as of 1 p.m. ET Tuesday.
Brooks Koepka recent results with LIV Golf
Koepka's play with LIV Golf was trending in the wrong direction before a breakthrough in Singapore in early May.
He shot 15-under to edge out Cam Smith and Marc Leishman at Sentosa Golf Club in the Southeast Asian city-state for his fourth win on the LIV Golf series. Koepka became the first player to win four LIV Golf events (LIV Jeddah twice, LIV Orlando).
It was a strong recovery after a quiet Masters performance and a 46th-place finish at LIV Miami on Trump National Doral Miami, the worst individual finish of his LIV Golf career.
In team golf, Koepka's Smash GC, featuring Talor Gooch, Jason Kokrak and Graeme McDowell, won its first tournament this year at LIV Las Vegas.
Brooks Koepka putter switch
Koepka struggled with his putting prior to the victory in Singapore, prompting him to change a putter he'd used for more than a decade professionally.
According to LIV Golf senior writer Mike McAllister, Koepka switched from his longtime Button Back Newport putter to the Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5.5 mallet prior to LIV Golf Miami.
“I can't find the hole at all, to be honest with you,” Koepka said in media availabilities prior to LIV Golf Singapore. “Something we've just been putting some work into, so trying to find some answers.”
After more struggles at Doral and the 2024 Masters Tournament, Koepka rebounded with a Top 10 finish at LIV Golf Adelaide in Australia prior to his win in Singapore.
What majors has Brooks Koepka won?
A five-time major champion overall, Koepka is tied with Sam Snead and Gene Serazen for the fourth-most wins (3) at the PGA Championship, trailing only Walter Hagen (5), Jack Nicklaus (5) and Tiger Woods (4).
He won back-to-back U.S. Open titles in 2017 and 2018 and then won back-to-back PGA Championships in 2018 and 2019. Last year, he won the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in New York.
Koepka has never won a Masters Tournament but has come close with second-place finishes in 2019 and 2023. He has also never won an Open Championship.
“There’s 19 people in front of me," Koepka said of golf greats with as many or more major championship victories. "I do know that.”
Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at ejwallace@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Brooks Koepka at the PGA Championship: Tee time, odds to win and more
