Brooks Koepka heating up heading into Players Championship

Brooks Koepka could be warming up entering what he deems the "real heat of the golf season."

That heat can be found this week at the Players Championship, with the Masters on the horizon next month.

"I think the Players always kind of was the kickoff to a big tournament every month, right," Koepka said. "You've got this, when they moved it to March; April you get the Masters. Then so on. I mean there's a big event every month.

"So this is kind of right where I feel like you needed to know where your game was at. Every time when you come to The Players, you get a good idea of, hey, you've got a couple more weeks right before Augusta; if you got to make any changes, this is where it needs to happen. This is kind of, I don't know, in my eyes, the kickoff of the real heat of the golf season. And it's a lot of fun, it's exciting, and just need to be on top of things."

Koepka initially struggled in his return to the PGA Tour, recording a T56 at the Farmers Insurance Open and a missed cut at the WM Phoenix Open. The five-time major champion and nine-time winner on the PGA Tour rebounded with a T9 finish at Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches to find himself listed at 221st in the Official World Golf Ranking.

"It's obviously a lot better," Koepka said of his confidence level after finishing 10-under for the tournament. "I think the first week was just trying to get that out of the way. Then the second week, I felt like it was very disappointing.

"Made a few changes, new putter; just working on a few different mechanical things in the putting. Felt like it started to click, I guess, Thursday afternoon after the round on at Cognizant. Feel good, hitting it good. Like I said, just building momentum."

Koepka didn't fare well in his last appearance at the Players Championship, missing the cut after finishing 9-over par. He will be making his seventh start at the tournament.

"Yeah, it feels good to be back. Played the back nine (on Monday)," he said. "I thought the greens were a little bit firmer than what I remember. A couple changes. But it was good to see the course in great shape, and it's going to be a good test this week."

--Field Level Media