Cover story Brooks Koepka
Being Brooks Koepka was great fun for much of 2018 - even if you detected a major chip on those ample shoulders of his. So how will he top it in 2019? And will it bring the love he secretly craves?
The PGA Tour Player-ofthe-Year on starting his year here and winning even more majors.
When espn released its list of the 20 most dominant American athletes of 2018 recently, Brooks Koepka responded to his glaring omission with a tweet featuring the emoji of a perplexed gent sporting furrowed eyebrows and a monocle. Repeated three times. ▶ The winner of two majors, the PGA Tour and PGA of America Player-ofthe-Year titles last season, not to mention the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges in South Korea to start this new wrap-around 201819 PGA Tour season in style, is a man of few words. But he knows how to make a not so subtle points. Maybe the world No.1 really is underappreciated after all? We’ll let the 28-year- old explain on the eve of his return to this month’s $7 million Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
In a recent interview you described the wrist injury that kept you out of the Masters last April as a blessing in disguise, helping you to fall “back in love with the game”. When exactly did you fall out of love?
Obviously, injuring my wrist wasn’t a good thing but the time away from golf gave me a great opportunity to return to the PGA Tour fresh and excited to compete. It reminded me just how much I love competing and I came back really excited and hungry. I don’t think I had fallen out of love with golf but it definitely reminded just how much I loved it. When I finally got back out on tour, I felt even more focused, more driven, more excited to play golf tournaments.
You say the career grand slam is in your sights, and foresee an Open Championship win at St Andrews. Those are some specific/lofty goals?
You know, it is a lofty goal but I am halfway there so it is possible and something I would love to do. I’ve said it before but I really feel like my game is made for majors, having won three of the last six I have played in.
You’ve finished 31st, 21st and 11th at Augusta National. Will it be 1st in 2019?
I am really looking forward to April and hoping I will arrive healthy and ready to give it my best shot. I feel like I will be arriving in Augusta a more complete player having gained so much experience this year, and also, the improved focus I have applied to my golf since coming back from the wrist injury. Also, the confidence I’ve gotten from winning three majors is going to help me around Augusta so I am excited to see how I go in 2019.
“My friends and family know the real me and that’s all that matters.”
You missed the cut in your only previous visit to Abu Dhabi in 2014, carding rounds of 73-77. What do you remember from the trip/course and fair to say your game is at a different level now?
Absolutely! I played Abu Dhabi a long time ago in terms of my career so I feel like I am not only returning as a better player, but also I have matured and gained so much experience since I was last there. So I am hoping I will have a better result this time round.
You say you get in the “zone” so deeply on course, you’re often misunderstood as being aloof. “But get to know me and I’m a totally different person”. So, go on then, sell the real, off the course Brooks Koepka. What kind of character would we discover?
I guess I really don’t feel like I have to sell myself as I don’t think I am that misunderstood these days. Most of all I want to be seen as great golfer by those folks who don’t know me personally and as a good role model to my young fans. My friends and family know the real me and that’s all that matters. Of course, I am really focused on the course but off course, I’d say I am a good friend, laid back and a strong team player.
What did it mean having Tiger Woods wait for you after your PGA Championship win?
It was really special. Tiger is the reason that people in my generation are even playing golf so to get to duel it out was pretty neat. It was so classy of him to wait for me and a really special moment.
How do you top 2018?
I’m not going to think of it in terms of topping 2018. I want to keep improving, keep winning and to do that, I want to try and stay as healthy as possible and injury free so I can see what I can achieve given a full season out there.
Your good pal Dustin Johnson is probably a little misunderstood by those outside the ropes looking in too. Give us an insiders insight?
Dustin is a great friend, great guy, as kind and generous as anyone you’d meet, a wonderful father and an awesome teammate.
Justin Rose. In 10 words or less?
World class English Olympic gold medal [and] major winning great guy.
Le Golf National. In as many words as you need to sum up the week/U.S. disappointment?
Tough. Quality track, tough week, tough result.
The incident with the fan Corine Remande who lost sight in one eye after being struck by your tee shot. That really shook you didn’t it?
Absolutely, I still feel very shaken by it.
Much was made of the course set-up at Le Golf National. Will Team USA get their revenge at Whistling Straits?
I don’t think the course set-up is why we lost. Ultimately, we lost because we didn’t play our best golf and we certainly didn’t hole enough putts. I think the course will be set up differently for sure at Whistling Straits but given so many of the Europeans play on the PGA Tour I don’t think it will be a big advantage for the US team.
A lot of European Tour stars are starting their seasons in the U.S. and staying put till roughly the Open in July, saying it gives them the best shot to peak for the majors. Yourself, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed (slated for Saudi) and Bryson DeChambeau (Dubai) are starting in the Middle East. Is there a perfect formula for success in the bigs?
Everyone needs to do what feels best for them schedule wise. I can’t really speak to anyone else’s schedule. Personally, I am so excited to return to Abu Dhabi after a break and see how I do with so much more experience under my belt since I last played there. It feels like a great choice for me. It’s a perk of the job to be able to play golf around the world and visit amazing destinations and I feel like Abu Dhabi fits into my schedule really well.
Talking of the bigs, is it true you’d rather have been a Major league baseballer?
At this point I am pretty happy with my career choice but if I wasn’t a golfer I would love to have played baseball for sure.
How important is your legacy in the majors? Is that ultimately what drives you?
I’m a bit young to be driven by my legacy at the moment. Winning majors definitely drives me in the here and now. As I get older, maybe I’ll think more about my legacy but for now I am focusing on the present.
What can make Brooks Koepka an even more dominant force? Is that even possible?
Staying healthy and injury free would be a good start.
Re-winding to your childhood, can you ever have imagined being the No.1 in the world at anything?
I mean in a kind of abstract way you dream as a kid about being the best in the world when you are out practicing. I would watch Tiger and Adam Scott and dream of one day winning majors like them but it’s just one of many dreams you have when you’re young trying out lots of sports. I have always had strong self-belief and drive but it is pretty hard to take in the fact that I actually made it to No.1 in the world.
“I’m a bit young to be driven by my legacy at the moment but winning majors definitely drives me in the here and now.”