Brooks Koepka Withdraws From The Northern Trust At TPC Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- The best golfers in the world will be in Norton this week, competing in The Northern Trust at TPC Boston.
Brooks Koepka, though, will not be among them.
The 30-year-old on Wednesday withdrew from this week's tournament -- the first of three FedEx Cup Playoff events -- due to "a lingering hip and knee injury" that have been bothering him for some time.
The withdrawal ends his Tour season but does give him the opportunity to try to regain his health in time for the the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in mid-September and the Masters in mid-November.
Koepka missed the cut last week at the Wyndham Championship, shooting 2-over one week after he was seen receiving treatment mid-round during the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park.
Rory McIlroy, who won the event in Boston in 2016, said in a press conference Wednesday that Koepka was making a wise decision.
"Brooks is one of the biggest names in the game. We've all seen his physical struggles since last year. He had the knee injury and he slipped in Korea and he sort of struggled with it ever since. It's a good -- it's maybe never a good time, but it's a better time than sort of any other time to get it right. You know, take a few weeks off," McIlroy said. "Try to get himself ready for the U.S. Open, and then the Masters coming up, as well. It's probably smart. He's just played six or seven weeks in a row, which it takes a toll on your body anyway, but even if you're struggling with an injury, even more so. So I think it's smart on his part to do that and hopefully comes back healthy and comes back ready to play."
This week's event at TPC Boston features the top 125 ranked players in the world. Koepka started the year at No. 1 but has since dropped to No. 7. He was entering this week ranked 97th in FedEx Cup standings.