Brooks Koepka will be out of action 10 weeks with a left wrist injury, leaving him on the sidelines of the PGA Tour until the 2018 Masters, when he intends to return.
The reigning US Open champion first experienced the effects of the injury at the Hero World Challenge in December 2017, where he finished last in the 18-man field in the no-cut event. He then finished last by a significant margin at the winners-only 2018 Sentry Tournament of Champions in January.
At Kapalua, Koepka said he and his medical team weren't sure what was causing the pain he was experiencing in his full swing but would continue playing through the injury until he found an answer.
Ultimately, the answer was a torn tendon in his left wrist, specifically the Extensor Carpi Ulnaris tendon. The injury was discovered after getting a second medical opinion.
“I began to feel some discomfort in my left hand at the Hero but it wasn’t a huge concern at the time,” Koepka said in a release. “Then, perhaps unwisely, I decided to play through pain at the Sentry before the partial tear was diagnosed.”
With a 10-week recovery timeline, Koepka hopes to be given the all-clear to play again on March 30, which is the Friday before the Masters. As an invitee to the year's first major, Koepka doesn't have to acknowledge he's playing until his first-round tee time. There are no alternates for the Masters.
“I am frustrated that I will now not be able to play my intended schedule,” Koepka said. “But I am confident in my doctors and in the treatment they have prescribed, and I look forward to teeing it up at the Masters.”
The timing is poor because it obviously hampers Koepka's pre-Masters preparation, but the Florida State product also came into the Hero on a roll. He had finished second at the WGC-HSBC Champions in late October before decimating the field in winning his second Dunlop Phoenix title in Japan in November.
