Although he may not be going through the best moment of his career, the opinion of Brooks Koepka, winner of five majors, should always be taken into account. In the early hours of this morning, during one of the official press conferences ahead of the LIV Golf in Adelaide, the second event of the season in the Saudi tour, the golfer from West Palm Beach spoke about how he approaches this fun Australian tournament, recalled the hole-in-one his brother achieved at this very venue, and referred to the decision by the USGA and The R&A to create access categories for the US Open and The Open for LIV players.
Regarding this week’s tournament, Brooks is clear: “I know I can speak on behalf of all the players when I say this is the one event we look forward to returning to every year. We have the largest number of fans, the most energy. That’s what LIV Golf is about. Making it fun for the players, making it fun for the fans and families that come, and I think this event shows exactly what we’ve been trying to do year after year. This is the pinnacle of our events and hopefully, in the future, it will be the benchmark we set.”
Koepka has no doubts when it comes to choosing his favourite memory in Adelaide: “That answer is pretty easy for me: my brother making the hole-in-one. I think it’s pretty easy. It’s funny because I practice a lot with him at home, especially now that he’s back playing, and it’s the only topic I think comes up practically every time we’re together. He still thinks he’s the mayor of Adelaide. He still calls himself that. So it’s pretty funny. We laugh a lot. I joke with him, try to convince him to come back because it would be a good experience. I hope he plays here again in a few years if he plays well enough in the International Series or in the promotion events.”
It’s hard to find an atmosphere in the golf world like the iconic Watering Hole that LIV Golf visits this week, where Chase Koepka shone. Although for Brooks, the experience starts even before going through the tunnel with his favourite song blaring… “It’s amazing. I think it doesn’t just start at the Watering Hole. It’s the holes before. When a player comes off the 9th green, they can start to hear the music. You can hear the players being announced. You can hear the energy that’s there. It affects the whole golf course. So it’s not just that hole, you’re eager to get there and hopefully make a good shot. But the excitement when you come off the 11th green… That’s what sports are about. There’s an iconic moment or an iconic setup that everyone looks forward to. As fans, they have it there, and then as players, once we get there, it’s pure excitement, and the best thing is to hit that green. That’s all I can say.”
The American has won practically on every tour he’s been on. But he is clear about the secret to success in LIV Golf: “I think the most important thing is a good golf course and the fans. The fans are the ones who cheer us on. If you look at any other sport… it’s amazing to me, you always have a home base or there are local fans cheering you on, but in golf, there’s never a true home base, unlike the Rippers this week, and you can see that’s probably why they played so well last year. If there’s excitement or anticipation, as a player that excites you, and they do a phenomenal job. The fans are amazing here. I think I can speak for all the players; that’s why there’s so much excitement and anticipation in this place.”
A comment was also expected from him regarding the latest moves by the USGA and The R&A opening the door for LIV in their Majors. Brooks sees it as a big step for the tour: “This is the first step of many that I think we’re looking to take. The opportunity is there. I think organisations around the world, the R&A, the USGA, are considering LIV Golf as part of the golf ecosystem now. This is a huge, huge step for us. Hopefully, we have a player who isn’t exempt, who is up there ready to play and who gets another major title, because that will only add value to this league and to every team.”
Finally, after Scott O’Neil joked saying that Koepka never sends his ball to the sand, the man from West Palm Beach assessed the Grange course, where the bunkers are, according to Jon Rahm, among the best in the world: “Look, this golf course is in phenomenal shape, with some of the purest greens we play on all year in LIV, and it’s exciting. I know I’ve said it before, the players are excited to come here to play. It’s a fun event. This golf course is in incredible shape. In fact, I love that it’s so hot right now because it might firm up the course a bit and it will be a great test for everyone. Probably Cam is the favourite, he is for the fans here, so it’s hard to go against that. But there are so many guys, so many guys playing well… Jon, Tyrrell is playing phenomenal golf. I don’t think they’ve been out of the top 5 in their last six events or something like that. There are a lot of guys playing well. It’s a big year, the year of the Ryder Cup, so the guys are looking to play well on both sides, the European side, our side in the United States, and there’s a lot at stake this season. There are a lot of hungry guys.”
