News
Brooks Koepka WDs from Northern Trust, ending his 2019-'20 season
Jared C. Tilton
Brooks Koepka has withdrawn from the Northern Trust, putting an end to his 2019-’20 season.
Koepka cited lingering knee and hip issues as the reason for pulling out at TPC Boston. The 30-year-old has dealt with health problems going back to last fall, when he underwent a knee procedure the day after the 2019 Tour Championship. He continued to be plagued with pain, withdrawing from multiple Asian Swing events and passing on the Presidents Cup.
Koepka has publicly teetered on the status of his health. At times he stated his body felt fine, but there were also admissions in February and July that his knee continued to be problematic, and he underwent an MRI on Monday of Memorial week.
“Just wanted to check on it, see where it's at,” he said of the decision to have an MRI. “We got the results right after Korea, and then we just wanted to check, and nothing is improved, it's still the same. So we'll figure it out when we're done.”
Koepka's game was clearly impacted by his ailments. He posted just two top 10s in 13 starts this season with five missed cuts. That included a quick out at last week’s Wyndham Championship, where Koepka shot 72-70.
As Koepka entered the Northern Trust at No. 97 in the FedEx Cup standings—with the top 70 advancing to the second round of the postseason at the BMW Championship—he is now out of the playoffs.
Koepka’s next likely appearance will be at the U.S. Open, which begins on Sept. 17 at Winged Foot. Koepka won the event in 2017 and 2018, and finished runner-up at the championship last summer.