Brooks Koepka, No. 1 in the World Golf Ranking, withdrew from the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges prior to the start of the third round, citing a knee injury, the PGA Tour announced.
Koepka shot 69-75 and was tied for 51st at the halfway point at Nine Bridges on Jeju Island, South Korea. It was his second start of the new season. He missed the cut in his first start, at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open earlier this month.
He said that that after the Tour Championship he had received a stem cell injection in his left knee. He had had a partially torn patella tendon, he said. On Wednesday, Koepka addressed the knee issue in a pre-tournament news conference.
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“My knee’s fine, it feels good,” he said. “It bugged me since March maybe, but everything’s fine now. Did my rehab, my recovery, and there shouldn’t be any issues. Hopefully, there might be one more round of stem cells maybe before the end of the year during some off time. But other than that, I feel great. My knee feels good. It’s the first time it’s been feeling consistently good in a while.”
Koepka’s brother Chase, meanwhile, remains in the field at the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges and was tied for 33rd at two-under par 142 through two rounds.