Brooks Koepka disappointed with opening round but knee issue wasn't a factor
Four-time major winner Brooks Koepka shot a 2-over par opening round at The Masters, but insists his knee is feeling fine.
Brooks Koepka was disappointed with his 2-over par opening round of 74 at Augusta National on Thursday, but says there was no pain around his knee.
The four-time major winner was a doubt to even play at The Masters after undergoing surgery to his right knee, but Koepka confirmed his attendance and produced a fairly solid display during round one, all things considered.
Augusta National was playing extremely difficult, with the firm greens catching many players out with putts that just wouldn't stop rolling, resulting in just 12 players in the 88-man field shooting under par.
Koepka has been out of action for a number of weeks and hasn't had anywhere near the same amount of time as others to prepare for the first major of the year, but it didn't change the fact that the 30-year-old was left feeling unimpressed with his performance.
"It [the knee] was fine. Feels all right. I just didn't play good," he said. "I just didn't swing it great. I'm tired right now, I'm not going to lie. But just got to play better. It can get pretty dicey out here if you put it in the wrong spot, the way these greens are."
Although his knee stopped him from bending down to his ball in the ordinary manner and caused him to adopt a 'Power Ranger' pose, Koepka shrugged off any speculation that playing a tournament so soon after surgery would cause further damage.
"I can't hurt it," he said. "The problem is it's just all the neurological stuff from your brain to there, firing different muscles. After surgery it takes some time, and the legs are just not strong enough.
"It's not getting any worse, it's only getting better each day with everything we do. It feels a hell of a lot better than it did a week ago, put it that way."
