HAD something Brooks Koepka wanted to achieve this week in Houston. After three top 20s and with his iron game leading the PGA Tour, the five-time major champion wanted to put himself in the weekend’s pot at Memorial Park to see if his game is ready for what’s on the horizon.
“I feel like it’s ready. The only thing is, I haven’t put myself in contention with nine holes to go. That’s really the last piece that I feel like I need to get done here before Augusta. But the game feels good. Everything is trending in a good direction.”
All signs pointed to Koepka’s statement being true. His iron game has been phenomenal, a problem diagnosed with the driver should have solved his biggest problem at last week’s Valspar, and a recent change to the TaylorMade Spider putter finally seemed to solve a placement problem that has plagued him for two years.
The latter was the key.
Koepka returned to the PGA Tour at the Farmers Insurance Open and missed the green by seven shots. Koepka made the switch to a hammer putter in Phoenix and missed the cut. But he seemed to find something on the green at the Cognizant Classic, where he won by 2.7 strokes. That dipped at TPC Sawgrass, but Koepka still finished T13. The golfer was at it again at last week’s Valspar, where Koepka dropped two shots on the green en route to a T18 finish.
All this made him arrive at Texas for Kids at the Houston Open believing that the relentless, demanding type of golf that won him five majors was back.
“Now I can sit back and play golf like I did in ’17, ’19, in that direction when I was playing really well where I can be very patient and just bide my time,” Koepka said. “I said it was like conservatively aggressive. I picked the right line, the right spot to make sure I never double-doubled. I’ve made a few doubles over the last few weeks, which has been kind of frustrating. My game is rounding into shape. I can see it. I don’t know if maybe from a scoring standpoint, maybe it hasn’t all looked like that.”
But things are never linear or simple in golf.
Koepka started his week in Houston 2-under six, but finished the opening nine with two double bogeys. After coming home in 38, Koepka signed for an opening round of 5-over 75. He shot 1 under on Friday, but the damage was done. In two rounds, Koepka missed over three shots and missed on the approach shot, giving him an early trip home from Houston and some work to do to prove that Brooks Koepka before the Masters in two weeks.
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As Koepka arrived in Houston looking for definitive proof that he was back before the big season, one of golf’s most consistent performers was still looking to punch his ticket to Augusta National.
Rickie Fowler entered the week ranked 61st in the Official World Golf Ranking. Fowler opened the year with three straight top-20 finishes and then posted a T9 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The dart has been trending for Rickie Fowler for some time. Fowler played good golf last summer and finished in the top 50 in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, securing his spot in all 2026 Signature Events. That certainty allowed him to take time off during the fall to rest a shoulder injury he dealt with in 2025. His body is healthy in 2026, but he values ​​his consistency to open the season for something else.
“I think a lot of it is on the mental side, not trying to do too much or anything special,” Fowler said Thursday in Houston. “Trying to let the rounds come to me and put things together and plot my way.
“I’ve definitely become a better golfer overall. I’d say this year and going to where I’m at right now, I feel like one of the best I’ve ever moved as far as controlling the golf ball and what I’ve been able to do. I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. If you’re not getting better mentally over the years and you’re not going to play and it’s never necessarily going to be that easy, but you’d think – this is my 17th year on tour, I better know my way around.”
But despite his consistent play, Fowler is still out of the field at Augusta National. With this being the final week before the top-50 ranking for the 2026 Masters, Fowler will likely need a top-five finish to move within the number and secure a trip to Magnolia Lane.
Needing a good week in Houston, Fowler shot an opening-round 67 to put himself in the mix.
But the wheels came off quickly Friday at Memorial Park.
Fowler made a sloppy double-bogey on the par-3 second to get down to the cut. Birdies at no. 3 and 8 got him back on the day, but a double in the ninth wiped them out. Fowler came back with a stroke at the 10th, but bogeys at the 15th and 17th pushed him to even par and ended his quest for a Masters berth on Friday night.
For Fowler, who has played in just one of the last five Masters, there is now only one way to get to Augusta National this year: Victory next week at the Valero Texas Open.
