World No. 3 and four-time major champion Brooks Koepka, in a live Q-and-A broadcast Wednesday on Instagram handled by his swing coach Claude Harmon III, said he went 30 days without alcohol during his time away from the PGA Tour that’s been on hold due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
“It didn’t last 31,” Koepka said with a big laugh. “I feel great. I’m not going to lie, I’m hungover today, but it was good. I feel really good. My knee feels great.
“I haven’t felt this good in a long time.”
That was just the start of a lively 60 minutes, where Koepka was open, genuine, forthright and downright funny. For instance, he loves rap and if he was a rapper, he’d be Lil Wayne. He has a man crush on Adam Scott and gets excited every time he’s paired with the Aussie. And asked if he would go to dinner at the invitation of Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee, who has tussled on Twitter with Koepka’s father and offered some takes on Koepka that weren’t received well, two words was all he needed.
“Hell, no,” he said.
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Yes, Koepka doesn’t do PC and doesn’t shy from any question.
As for his day job, he isn’t playing much golf these days but hits the gym every day.
“I can’t wait,” to play again, Koepka said. “It’s weird to have this much time off. I just want to go hit balls. I just want to putt. I just want to get back into the swing. You miss being around the guys. You miss having conversations. You miss hearing stories and laughing with the guys.”
Of the many questions he fielded, one of his fans asked when did Koepka realize he was good enough to turn pro and make a living against the best in the world.
“I don’t think I ever knew,” he said. “I remember going over to the (European) Challenge Tour and being like, am I good enough? But then you get out there and you find your own way. You have to have a lot of self-belief. You might not be sure, but you have to convince yourself that you are going to make it. That’s a part of what separates the guys who make it and those who don’t make it.”
Koepka made it all right. He became the No. 1 player in the world. Won the U.S. Open in 2017 and 2018. Won the PGA Championship in 2018 and 2019. Is the first player to hold back-to-back titles in two different majors simultaneously.
But one major eluded him last April. Koepka tied for second, one shot behind Tiger Woods, in the Masters. Koepka had good looks for birdie on 17 and 18 that could have forced a playoff but missed both and Woods won his fifth Masters.
On Easter, Koepka went to his father’s house, and being the sports nut his father is, they watched the replay of the final round.
“It was funny. It was interesting,” to watch the replay, Koepka said. “I black out (when I’m playing). I can’t remember shots. I go into a completely different world in my head. It’s so different, the way things are remembered. I don’t have a photographic memory. Did I miss on the low side, did I miss on the high side. Everything goes so quickly for me.”
And then the replay went to the back nine.
“I watch my tee shot on 12 go into the water,” Koepka said. “I think what people don’t realize was that I was two back of Fran (Molinari), so I still had to make a move. You’re never aiming for that pin. I stepped in and I felt the wind and it was completely different than it was two seconds before that. I backed off and I remember thinking it needs to be flighted a little bit more. And I thought I did it. I hit a great shot. I wouldn’t take it back. In the air I was loving it. I was licking my chops. I’m going to make birdie here. Dude, this is going to be great. I know that they’re all watching. And it did not pitch on the green.
“There were a few curse words walking down to the drop area. I dropped the ball, chipped it up to 6 feet or whatever it was and I really remember Ricky (Elliott, his caddie) saying to me, ‘You make this, we still have a chance.’ Sure enough I eagled the next hole.”
Then Koepka talked about the 15th hole where he faced another eagle putt.
“I remember I convinced Ricky before I hit it was I was going to make the putt. There are times every once in a while where you don’t have to say anything to him. I won’t discuss the putt (with him). He’s such a bad reader of greens anyway. The guy can’t read a putt. He can’t. And he’s a great putter, that’s the funny part.
“But I remember saying to him, ‘I’m going to point at Tiger if I make this thing.’ And I, still to this day, cannot believe that putt missed.”
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