SAN DIEGO – Nervous. Super grateful. New chapter. Brooks Koepka used all these words (and more) to describe his first two days back as a PGA TOUR member this week at the Farmers Insurance Open. But perhaps the most telling phrase was: “I love the grind.”

After three and a half seasons away from TOUR competition, the nine-time TOUR winner is ready to dig into the task at hand – working his way up the FedExCup standings, into Signature Events and even into the winner’s circle.

“It's a fresh start for me, which is cool,” said the five-time major winner. “It's just another chapter, I guess, in my book. I'm excited for that. I feel like my game's in pretty good shape, and I want to see where it's at. Obviously, this week is a little bit different. But yeah, would just like to get this week over and just feel like I can start playing golf again. I'm super excited.”

The excitement was palpable Tuesday at Torrey Pines, where the 35-year-old Koepka spent nearly 30 minutes with the media ahead of his fifth start at Farmers (he’s made one cut in four previous starts, with a T41 in 2015 being his best result). For Koepka, he said he was surprised by his nerves as well – he admitted he was most nervous ahead of meeting with media – and was particularly touched by the reception he’s gotten in the last 24 hours in California.

“I was kind of overwhelmed at the text messages that I received from guys,” he said. “I think that was – it meant a lot to me. And like I said, I'm grateful, I'm excited and I just want to get back to playing golf.”

Koepka shared several insights into his return, noting that the decision was made with his family's best interests firmly in mind – wife Jena Sims and son Crew will be with him this week – and that he’s “grown up a lot” over the last few years since becoming a father. He also shared that his first call upon making the decision to rejoin the TOUR was to none other than Tiger Woods.

“I've always had a good relationship with Tiger,” he noted. “Once I had the opportunity to get reinstated on PGA TOUR, it was exciting and kind of really didn't know what to do. That was the first person that kind of came to mind. … I felt like Tiger was somebody that I've relied on in the past for questions and answers and how to deal with things, and I felt like that was maybe the most comfortable call for me.”

In particular, the five-time major champion is looking forward to more on-course battles with the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.

“I'm excited to battle with them,” he said. “I think that will be really fun. I think just the competitive side of me. … You obviously want to do a little bit better, but that's going to be very tough to do better than Scottie right now. I'm excited for it. I want to play with those guys, see where I'm at and how I can get better. That's the whole goal every day, trying to practice and being out here is just get a little bit better and I'm excited about that.”

As for his goals for the season, perhaps it’s no surprise that Koepka has his eyes on a prize or two, including playing his way into Signature Events and collecting more hardware.

“I've got to play well. You play good golf, everything takes care of itself,” he said. “I'd like to try to get in those Signature Events and play well, but I understand I've got to earn that and I'm looking forward to that challenge.

“It would be something where it will be a little different spot and I've got to work my tail off and I'm excited about that. We'll see what happens, but I would love to come out and get a win.”