SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. -- Five-time major champion Brooks Koepka played a nine-hole practice round Tuesday and plans to play in the 126th U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.
Koepka withdrew before the final round of Sunday's RBC Canadian Open because of weakness and numbness in the pinkie and ring fingers on his left hand, which made it difficult for him to grip a club.
"It's getting better day by day," Koepka said. "I would say yesterday was pretty much how it was Sunday, but today there was quite a bit of improvement. I don't think I would have gone out and played if it wasn't."
Koepka, 36, had images taken of his neck Sunday in Canada and Monday in New York. He said they came back clean. He herniated his C5 and C6 vertebrae in 2021.
Koepka said he believes the weakness and numbness in his left hand is being caused by a flare-up of his ulnar nerve, which runs down the arm and can become irritated from overuse and repetitive elbow bending, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
"I don't think the grip strength is a hundred percent, but it's good enough," Koepka said. "It's fine. There's no pain. There's absolutely no pain, which is kind of the weirdest part of this whole thing. I'd almost prefer there was a little bit of pain. It would make sense why this hurts and that doesn't. It just feels like you hit your funny bone all the time."
The two-time U.S. Open winner said he first felt symptoms while he was watching TV on Friday night. The injury flared up again during his warmup Saturday.
"The movement's fine," Koepka said. "I can do everything. It's literally just my ring finger and pinkie finger. [During] the transition coming down, they would come off. It felt like they were coming off the golf club, but they were just very weak. Then as soon as impact would come with the turf interaction, it felt like it was fully off. So [I'm] excited to be able to hold a golf club again."
Koepka captured the second of back-to-back U.S. Open titles the last time the tournament was played at Shinnecock Hills in 2018. He posted a 68 in the final round to finish with a 72-hole total of 1 over, which was one stroke better than Tommy Fleetwood.
Since returning to the PGA Tour from the LIV Golf League on Jan. 12, Koepka has six top-25 finishes in 12 starts.
He said he likes where his game is heading into the U.S. Open.
"I feel just as good [as in 2018]," Koepka said. "I think ball striking is even better than what it's been. I had a great week putting last week. I'm excited for the challenge. This course can be quite difficult. You're going to have to be creative around this place and really, really work on your angles coming in. I'm excited about it, and the game feels good."