Ex-PGA Tour winner issues verdict on Brooks Koepka's Masters chances

Former PGA Tour winner turned TV commentator and analyst Smylie Kaufman has assessed Brooks Koepka's chances of victory at The Masters. 

Koepka has five PGA Tour appearances under his belt since re-joining the North American circuit following his surprise departure from the LIV Golf League. 

The five-time major champion showed visible signs of rust upon his return at the Farmers Insurance Open in late January and missed the cut a week later at the WM Phoenix Open. 

Results have improved since then for Koepka, who has been working extremely hard on his putting.  

And it has led Kaufman to believe the American, 35, will be a force to be reckoned with at the first men's major of the year. 

The 2026 Masters Tournament begins on 9 April at Augusta National. 

"He was rolling through 45 holes," Kaufman said on the latest edition of his podcast, referencing the fact Koepka got himself into contention last week at Valspar Championship. 

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"I was like, gosh, he might win this golf tournament. He was at seven under par through 45 holes of this tournament. 

"He's only got 27 more holes, if he just goes and shoots four under par throughout the rest of the way, he's in a playoff with Fitzpatrick which I think he would have taken any day of the week.

"He lost the ball-striking on the back nine on Saturday. I was walking with him a little bit, he was like, ‘man, I can't find a fairway’, just kind of joking around, just frustrated that he couldn’t make a fix. 

"But looking at his overall stats for the week, and how we can say alright, where is he right now in regards to winning at Houston or contending at Augusta? I still think he can win soon. I really believe that he's going to contend at Augusta."

Koepka is in the field this week at the Texas Children's Houston Open. 

World number one Scottie Scheffler headlines the field at Memorial Park Golf Club. 

"I think he's going to contend in Houston, mainly because I believe in the work that he's doing with Mike Kanski on the putter. It just looks so much better to me.

"His iron game is very interesting to get into. When you look at the whole season, and we're obviously seeing a lot of good shots, but he was third in approach to the green heading into the Valspar Championship. 

"We already talked about the stats that Brandel [Chamblee] brought up about Augusta. 

"He's always been a very good chipper, but his iron game is very good, great around the greens. 

"The putter is coming back. And if driving distance is the last on the chart, I think we need to be circling Brooks as a potential Masters guy."

What is Brooks Koepka's Masters record?

Brooks Koepka will be making his 11th appearance at Augusta National. 

He has finished runner-up twice in his career. 

Koepka finished one stroke behind Tiger Woods in 2019 and played in the final group alongside Jon Rahm in 2023, ultimately finishing four strokes behind the Spaniard. 

He later admitted that he choked.

"I wanted it so bad, that was the problem," he previously said. "I couldn't take my own advice.

"It's easy to say it, right? But in the moment when you're doing it you're like 'I want to win Augusta, I've always wanted to do this' and you've got the opportunity - it's right there in front of you. All you've got to do is finish 18 more holes.

"And I got so far ahead. And when you get so far ahead you lose what's going on and it just became a disaster and a snowball effect and you're just going down and down."

Koepka bounced back later in the summer, winning the PGA Championship for his fifth major triumph. 

He has only missed three cuts at Augusta and has a scoring average of 71.97, with a low round of 65.