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Koepka ready for 2020 debut after 'excruciating' knee injury

Francois Nel / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Brooks Koepka returns to professional golf this week on the European Tour after reinjuring his left knee at the CJ Cup in mid-October. The injury forced the No. 1 player in the world to the sidelines for nearly three months.

"Everything felt good, and then in Korea, I re-tore it and the kneecap had moved into a fat pad," Koepka said in Abu Dhabi, according to ESPN's Bob Harig. "That's excruciating. It's a lot of pain. It's not fun."

Following the 2019 Tour Championship, Koepka received stem cell treatment on his left patella tendon after dealing with lingering pain throughout the season. He returned to the PGA Tour in Las Vegas prior to slipping on wet concrete in South Korea, where he withdrew after Round 2.

Koepka spent the last three months rehabbing his injury. He missed the WGC-HSBC Champions event in China and had to pull out from the Presidents Cup in Australia.

"I have been trying to make sure everything feels right, and it does not feel like my right knee, I'll be honest with you, and it probably won't for a while,'' Koepka continued. "But it does feel stable, which leaving Korea and all the way up to about a month and a half ago, it felt like it could go either way. It could go left, out, back, it could go any way."

The 29-year-old began hitting balls again around Christmas time in preparation for his return and is no longer feeling pain. He will play in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia before making his first PGA Tour start at the Genesis Open on Feb. 13.

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