Brooks Koepka fired an 8-under 63 on Thursday to take a one-shot lead after the opening round of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas.
The five-time major champion made the switch to a Scotty Cameron Fastback 1.5 putter to address short-game issues that plagued him at the PGA Championship.
“Hopefully I can just kind of [get] some confidence with it and build some momentum off of it,” Koepka said.
Koepka, who finished T-55 at Aronimink, expressed frustration with his putting last week.
“I look back at last week, which I’m very kind of annoyed with because I kind of let the last couple holes get away from me,” he said.
The new putter offers the feel of a blade with additional toe hang, helping the club face release naturally.
Koepka spent a full day practicing in his putting studio in South Florida to fix mechanical flaws.
“Just try to fix the problem,” he said. “I was in there for quite a while working on some different things, trying some different putters.”
Despite his putting struggles, Koepka remained confident in his ball-striking.
“I feel like I’m in complete control of my golf ball — shape, spin, trajectory, everything seems to be right where I need it to be,” he said.
In Thursday’s round, Koepka eagled the par-5 12th and added four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the back nine.
He credited his group’s comfortable atmosphere.
“It was just a comfortable group,” Koepka said. “Everyone is just kind of feeding off each other, easy.
Everyone’s having fun.”
The TPC Craig Ranch layout underwent a $25 million redesign by Lanny Wadkins, adding bunkers and reshaping greens.
“The greens are totally different than when we played,” Koepka noted. “Off the tee it looks pretty good.
Place hasn’t changed too much. It’s familiar.
I like it.”
A win would help Koepka qualify for $20 million signature events, from which he is currently barred due to his return from LIV Golf.
“(Winning) would be a big confidence boost for sure because I feel like I’ve been playing well,” he said.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who won last year’s event by eight shots, shot a 66 with three late birdies to sit three strokes back.
“I felt like I was getting lapped out there for a little bit,” Scheffler said.
“So I was fortunate to make a couple birdies late in the round and keep myself in the tournament.”
Si Woo Kim, Emiliano Grillo, Keith Mitchell, Stephan Jaeger, and Michael Thorbjornsen all shot 64 to share second place.
Doug Ghim and Mackenzie Hughes are two shots back at 65.
