New Gear Paying Off For Brooks Koepka & Keith Mitchell In Texas

This week, the PGA TOUR is in Texas for the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, with big names like Brooks Koepka and Keith Mitchell looking to build momentum heading deeper into the season.

Beyond looking for wins, both players also arrived this week with some notable equipment changes. Brooks Koepka has gone to a new Scotty Cameron Fastback after a recent stint with a TaylorMade Spider, and Keith Mitchell has a new (old) Odyssey 2-Ball EXO into play alongside a TaylorMade Qi4D LS driver that went into play in Miami.

RELATED: Brooks Koepka is Starting to Sound Dangerous Again

(Photo: Courtesy GolfWRX)

The Results Are In (So far)

After round one at the newly renovated TPC Craig Ranch, Koepka opened with an 8-under 63 while gaining 2.96 strokes off the tee and, perhaps more importantly, 2.338 strokes on the greens compared to his season average of -0.471.

Before round one, Koepka spoke about the change to the putter.

“I have a little warehouse at home. There's a putting studio in there. I was in there from after I dropped my son off at school in the morning and then was in that putting studio until I had to pick him up from school,” Koepka said.

For Koepka, the process wasn’t necessarily about finding something radically different but rather finding a way to simplify things and get back to basics.

“Trying to make sure you're lined up, your grip is correct, your putter is aimed where you think it's aimed. Just little different things.”

That process eventually led him into the new Fastback model after fighting release issues with previous setups.

“Switched putters again this week for something I feel like released on its own, something I've been trying to... been fighting a little bit, and I feel like it definitely releases a little bit.”

As for Mitchell, he gained just over a stroke off the tee in round one—roughly a half-shot better than his season average—while also gaining 1.272 strokes on the greens compared to his season average of -0.276.

Now we wait and see how the rest of the week pays off as both players look for their first tour wins in quite some time. At the time of publication, before round 2. Brooks sits one back of leader Taylor Moore, and Keith is one more shot behind.