Brooks Koepka's return and what it means for the PGA Tour - ESPN

LA JOLLA, Calif. — The last time Brooks Koepka walked the narrow fairways at Torrey Pines at the 2021 U.S. Open, the golf world was whole.

Koepka was ranked 10th in the world then, had just finished runner-up at the PGA Championship (his 10th top-10 finish in a major in his past 15 appearances) and boasted the fourth-best odds to win that week. His aura was unmistakable then — he had four majors to his name and had engineered a reputation for himself that exuded a kind of cool carelessness matched only by his effortless confidence on the sport's biggest stages. He wasn't afraid to let you in on it, either.

«I think sometimes the majors are the easiest ones to win,» Koepka said in 2019. «Half the people shoot themselves out of it, and mentally I know I can beat most of them.»

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On Tuesday at Torrey Pines, nearly five years since that U.S. Open, still sporting Nike clothing but now under the PGA Tour banner — not LIV's — once again, a different Koepka surfaced. He was mild-mannered and sheepish, grateful for the opportunity to return yet not exactly an open book having crossed the picket fence in professional golf's chasm yet again.

«I'm definitely a little bit more nervous this week,» Koepka said. «There's a lot of guys I don't know.»

It would be easy to ascribe the demeanor to where he now stands in the game. Koepka is the 255th-ranked player in the world, according to the Official World Golf Ranking (LIV does not receive OWGR points), and 162nd, per Data Golf. He has five missed cuts in his past eight non-LIV appearances, including three missed cuts at majors last year. That quintessential Koepka confidence might still be there, but for now, it's