Tour pro labels Brooks Koepka's decline 'a shame' after disastrous PGA Championship performance

English tour pro Eddie Pepperell says it's 'a shame' Brooks Koepka continues to struggle in the major championships.

Koepka, 35, was one of the marquee names that decided to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf in 2022.

It was speculated one of the reasons why the American's choice was easier than others was because he feared his career was over.

The Netflix cameras revealed Koepka's misery as he struggled to see a way back from a debilitating knee injury. 

Koepka battled his way back to full fitness after surgery and proved the doubters wrong by winning the 2023 PGA Championship.

He lifted the Wanamaker Trophy - his third overall - weeks after he played in the final group alongside Jon Rahm at The Masters.

But since then the habitual major contender has not been the dominant force he once was. 

Koepka blew up on the 36th hole at last month's Masters to miss the cut and was dismal at Quail Hollow. 

He was even involved in a heated exchange with a spectator who told the golfer: "That's what happens when you take guaranteed money."

Bryson DeChambeau topped the LIV Golf leaderboard at the PGA Championship whilst Koepka shots round of 75 and 76 to miss the cut by 11 strokes. 

Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith, Dean Burmester, Martin Kaymer and LIV stand-in John Catlin also missed the cut. 

Pepperell, who has never minced his words when it comes to the PIF-backed league, told the latest edition of The Chipping Forecast it was a shame to see Koepka not performing. 

He also disagrees, slightly, with the assessment Jon Rahm made about his game after he collapsed down the stretch at the second men's major of the year. 

"Brooks is a curious player," Pepperell told the pod. "He always has been. He's never been somebody to perform at his best other than major championships.

"It's such an unusual record he has across his career generally. I think it's going to be interesting to see what happens with Brooks at the end of this year or next.

"I think it's this year that his contract is up. A big part of me thinks he is going to want to feel stimulated and make a change which would be to come back and play [on] the PGA Tour and resurrect his career off the back of that.

"But, at the same time, if he feels there are any doubts about his physicality then he may well just sign another big contract with LIV and carry on there.

"He's another player like Cam Smith and Dustin who've gone to LIV in recent times and their form has just fallen away completely and it's a shame."

"I disagree with him slightly"

Rahm began the final day of the 2025 PGA Championship five strokes adrift of the lead. 

A flurry of birdies saw the Spaniard draw level with eventual champion Scottie Scheffler with eight holes to play. 

But the European Ryder Cup star came unstuck over the final three holes and dropped five shots. 

Rahm later admitted he was embarrassed but was confident in the state of his game. 

Earlier in the week, he stressed that his form in the majors was nothing to do with his move to the breakaway. 

"Jon Rahm will know his game better than I will, obviously," Pepperell said.

"But I think crucially, and this is where LIV falls down, is because the standard isn't as deep as you mentioned Iain [Carter, co-host], those eighth place and ninth placed finishes [on LIV] are equivalent, roughly, to 30th position on the PGA Tour. 

"That would make you feel very differently about things going home on a Sunday night if you were to finish 30th and pick up $25,000 instead of finishing ninths and picking up $400,000 - not that the money is that consequential to Jon.

"So I think the impact that that has on performance over time is quite substantial and significant and I think when you look at some of the other players who miss cuts more regularly - like Ludvig Aberg did this week at the PGA - that is going to be a cutting and stinging missed cut.

"It's the reaction to bad performances and disappointment that ultimately determine your good moments and I just don't think on LIV enough of those moments occur."