Brooks Koepka’s return to Shinnecock for the first time since winning the 2018 U.S. Open just got a little bit murkier.
On Sunday morning, Koepka withdrew from the RBC Canadian Open before his final round citing a hand injury, per the PGA Tour’s communications department. Koepka, who was 6 under and tied for 34th place at the time of the injury, will not have the chance to complete his final round from TPC Toronto, prematurely ending a week that had shown a glimmer of competitive promise for the five-time major champion.
On Saturday afternoon, Koepka indicated he had been dealing with some sort of hand injury during a third round 72 that had seen him slide down the leaderboard after a brilliant opening two days in Toronto.
“Yeah, I don’t know what it is,” he said at the time. “I’m struggling to grip the club with my ring finger and pinkie finger, so can’t grip it. So the club is kind of just, my fingers would come loose, it was kind of numb. I don’t know what the deal was but hopefully we’ll figure it out.”
Koepka indicated at the time that he’d never dealt with the injury before, and said he was perplexed by the nature of the injury.
“Not this,” he said. “I don’t know what it is.”
Koepka’s journey back to the golf mountaintop in 2026 has been well documented. In January, he returned to the PGA Tour after several years at LIV to be closer to family, taking a “returning player pathway” deal from new Tour CEO Brian Rolapp that included a considerable charitable donation and several competitive concessions. Koepka has slowly earned his way back onto the mix on Tour, climbing all the way to 73rd in the FedEx Cup standings even as his status left him on the outside looking in of the Tour’s “signature events” fields.
In recent weeks, he appeared to be turning it on again, recording six top-25 finishes in eight starts, including one top-10, and finding a groove with his putting that had spent several months as a sore spot. Prior to his WD, Koepka had been planning to return to Shinnecock Hills for next week’s 126th U.S. Open, where he was poised to arrive on site as the lone golfer with winning experience at what many believe to be the sport’s most difficult tournament venue. (Koepka won the tournament with a 72-hole score of 1 over in its last playing in 2018.)
It is not yet known if the injury could cause Koepka to miss the U.S. Open, where he is a two-time winner. Play is expected to begin in five days from Southampton, N.Y. — with practice rounds taking place early next week.
