Brooks Koepka desperate to find form before PGA Championship defence

Brooks Koepka is looking to use the 3M Open to find a much-needed return to form ahead of two significant title defences in the coming weeks.

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The four-time major champion missed three months of the PGA Tour season after undergoing knee surgery in October and has failed to deliver an upturn in results since, with a seventh-placed finish at the RBC Heritage his only worldwide top-10 in 2020.

Koepka followed a missed cut at the Workday Charity Open with a tied-62nd finish at the same venue in the Memorial Tournament, shooting 80 on the final day, although the 30-year-old believes his performances are improving.

"I just need to play good," Koepka said. "I've played so bad lately. Yeah, just trying to find things. Every week I feel like the results aren't there, but it's getting better and better.

"My good shots are good, but I've just got to bring that bottom level up. I've hit some real costly shots. I seem to miss it short-sided every time and that's been kind of the downfall of why I haven't played well.

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"I missed it in very costly spots and just trying to figure out why that is. If I can bring the misses up, I'll be fine."

This week's tournament is the third in a minimum of five consecutive events that Koepka plans to play, as he defends at the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational next week and then chases a three-peat at the PGA Championship from August 6-9.

Koepka sits 154th in the FedExCup standings and requires a big finish to the campaign if he is to reach the season-ending Tour Championship, leaving him little option other than to play in as many events as possible.

"Right now, if things ended today, I'm not even in the play-offs, so I need to step it up and start playing well and get back to what I know I can do," Koepka added.

"By the end of the PGA [Championship], I was going to see how I feel. I probably have to go back to Challenge Tour days playing this many in a row, going five to seven weeks in a row and then trying to take a week off.

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"That was, what, six, seven years ago, so it's been a while since I played this many in a row. But, at the same time, I've had some weekends off, so it hasn't been too bad yet. Just frustration, playing bad.

"Every round I get to play I'm just trying to find that little something. Everybody knows that golf's that game where you make one good swing and everything clicks and it's like all right, back to normal, so [I'm] just trying to find that and keep battling through it."

Watch the 3M Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins with Featured Groups on Thursday from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf and Sky Sports Main Event.