Brooks Koepka Withdraws from 2020 US Open, Cites Need to Get Healthy

Two-time U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka announced he is withdrawing from next week's tournament, citing health concerns in a tweet posted Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, I have decided to withdraw from next week's U.S. Open," he wrote. "I'm looking forward to getting healthy and competing at 100% again very soon."      

Koepka, who is ranked No. 8 in the Official World Golf Rankings after starting the season at No. 1, missed the cut at last month's Wyndham Championship and withdrew from the Northern Trust, the first tournament of FedEx Cup playoffs. The four-time major champion, who won the U.S. Open in 2017 and 2018, told ESPN's Mark Schlabach in July that he still was feeling the pain of a torn patella tendon that caused him to miss time last season and would consider surgery.

The 30-year-old said:

"It's definitely been frustrating. It will test you mentally, but at the same time, I'm looking at it as a challenge and something where I know ... it will turn around eventually. It's going to turn around. You don't work that hard for nothing. Starting to see signs of it. Now it's just about going and doing it. Whether it be this week, next week, a month from now, two months from now, whatever it's going to be, it will pay off."

Through his injury-plagued season, in which he missed five cuts—more than the two previous seasons combined—Koepka still managed a second-place tie at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in early August and a top-10 finish at RBC Heritage in June. 

"Brooks is one of the biggest names in the game," Rory McIlroy said when Koepka withdrew from the Northern Trust three weeks ago. "We've all seen his physical struggles since last year."

Before withdrawing, the Florida native was ranked 97th in FedEx Cup points.