Brooks Koepka has a big game. He doesn’t need a lot of words

Brooks Koepka leaves the bluster to everyone else at LIV Golf. He cares about only his golf, especially when it’s not going the way he wants.

He was burning inside a year ago when he played not to lose in the final round of the Masters and watched his two-shot lead turn into a four-shot loss. He vowed not to let that happen again, and he delivered a month later by claiming his fifth major title at the PGA Championship.

Koepka found more motivation in failure already this year. That he was an afterthought in five LIV Golf events wasn’t nearly as irritating as being a no-show at Augusta National. He failed to break par in any round and beat only 10 players who made the cut.

Individual champion Captain Brooks Koepka, right, of Smash GC, celebrates after his win with his wife Jena Sims, center, and son Crew, left, on the 18th green after the final round of LIV Golf Singapore at Sentosa Golf Club, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Sentosa, Singapore. (Jon Ferrey/LIV Golf via AP)
Individual champion Captain Brooks Koepka, right, of Smash GC, celebrates after his win with his wife Jena Sims, center, and son Crew, left, on the 18th green after the final round of LIV Golf Singapore at Sentosa Golf Club, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Sentosa, Singapore. (Jon Ferrey/LIV Golf via AP)
He was asked in Singapore how is game was trending.

“Clearly not very good, with Augusta the way that went,” Koepka said, living up to his reputation of cutting to the chase. “I kind of felt like I wasted all the time from December until then. Just keep grinding away, keep doing the work, and hopefully something will turn around.”

And it did.

He made 17 birdies over three rounds in Singapore, was never seriously challenged on the final day and won by two shots. He referred to the Masters as a wake-up call.

It might be that way for others, too, especially with the PGA Championship at Valhalla next on the docket.

Koepka is the first player to win four LIV Golf titles.

That doesn’t make him the betting favorite at the PGA Championship. Scottie Scheffler has won four times in the last two months against far stronger fields (and over 72 holes) — in two signature events, The Players Championship and the Masters.

The search is for who can stop him, and a couple of candidates have emerged in recent weeks as Scheffler waits at home in Dallas for the birth of his first child.

Rory McIlroy won in New Orleans, albeit a team event with Shane Lowry, and restored some of the fun in golf that had been sorely missing. He won the last time the PGA Championship was at Valhalla, a wild finish in the dark with McIlroy joining the group ahead — Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler, both still with hopes of winning — in an effort to finish.

Ludvig Aberg is the best futures bet on challenging Scheffler. He’s a month away from completing one year as a pro and already is No. 6 in the world ranking with two wins and a Ryder Cup celebration. In his first major, he was runner-up to Scheffler at the Masters.

But there’s something fascinating about Koepka, particularly in the majors, and whenever he seems to have a chip on his shoulder that he puts there himself.

He once said majors were the easiest to win because they effectively had the smallest fields by process of elimination. Koepka figured he was flat-out better than half of the 156-man field and half of those guys would be off their game. Then he began to factor in how can the