When he walks on a golf course, he’s unmistakable.
Brooks Koepka is larger than most, cockier than most and in any given major championship, chances are he’ll be right there in the hunt on Sunday.
Brooks Koepka has gotten to that point in his career where he’s pretty darn comfortable telling it like it is — or at least the way he perceives things around him.
He’s not your average PGA Tour player, hardly your average professional athlete. In his world, things are black or white, there is no gray area.
He’s a lone wolf — he’s not looking for buddies on the PGA Tour. Money isn’t a great motivator for Koepka — competition is.
“This might come across the wrong way but I already have enough friends,” Koepka said in a recent interview. “I don’t need anymore. Just ’cause we work together doesn’t mean we have to be friends. I’ve got enough friends. You know, I have my friends that aren’t really into golf that much, and the only reason they’re into golf is because they follow me. I like to be able to get away from the game.”
Lone wolf — just like another Lone Wolf back in his prime and that was Tiger Woods. Tiger wasn’t looking for friends, just on-course victims.
He doesn’t hang out with other tour players, although there are a bunch in his immediate neck of the woods there in northern Palm Beach County.
“Brooks Koepka is the most difficult guy in Jupiter to get out for a practice round or a money game,” said another North Palm Beach guy — Justin Thomas.
Lone wolf — not a pack animal.
Koepka drew a big crowd Thursday afternoon. He’s the highest-ranked player in the field. The only top 10 guy who bothered to show up.
They hit him with questions about the upstart Premier Golf League, asking him if $200 million would get him to abandon the PGA Tour.
“I can’t speak for everybody, but for me, money doesn’t matter,” he said. “It’s not something that’s important. I just want to be happy. Money is not going to make me happy. I just want to play against the best, and at the same time, I just want to play golf.”
Consider that Koepka’s journey to the PGA Tour wasn’t an easy one — he didn’t come right out of the college ranks and play his way on like Mattew Wolff, Colin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland. No, Brooks paid his dues on the European Tour and finally made his way to the PGA Tour in his late 20s.
Koepka said he doesn’t take what the PGA Tour has done for him for granted.
“A lot of good things have come from it,” he said. “The Tour has been incredible to us, the way things have developed over the years. We have to see where things go. It’s all very new (PGL) and it’s all very fast.”
And what if that unproven PGL makes him an out-of-sight, mind-boggling money offer?
“I know you’re going to write this the wrong way, but it doesn’t matter if somebody gave me $200 million tomorrow,” Koepka said. “It’s not going to change my life. What am I going to get out of it? I already have so much that I could retire right now, but I don’t want to. I just want to play golf. It’s not going to change anything. Maybe the only thing I do is buy a plane. That would be it. I don’t see anything that would change my life.”
Simple yet complicated.
Koepka shuns the stuffy upscale atmosphere at elite country clubs. He’s a common man in that aspect, a guy who will walk on the practice tee at home with his shirt untucked.
“I love the game. I absolutely love the game,” he said.
“I don’t love the stuffiness that comes along with it.”
Simple yet complicated.
Lone Wolf, major champion, not an elbow rubber or a glad-hander.
What you see is what you get.
Call it like you see it, Brooks.
It’s that simple.
7 Comments
JimmyD5cc
He may be a Lone Wolf, but he needs to shut up when he compares himself to McIlroy. Both are excellent players, only Rory doesn’t run his mouth like Brooks,
Tom Edrington
I think Brooks has earned the right to speak his mind.
baxter cepeda
Makes you wonder why Every Olympics some virus wants to end the world.
I do appreciate brooks’ time on the Euro Tour; compared to others achieving life security on the PGA Tour with their diapers still Soggy.
And I liked the pun on Reed.
But The whole I don’t need friends works for you? I don’t bye it like I did with Tiger, but even Woods has learned better; and Tiger quietly has always had a ton of friends along the way: O’mera, stricker, Freddy just to make a few.
Brooks can say what he wants but he got his best work done quietly. Simply. Imo Like his boy DJ—assuming the bromance continued after Paris—The current number 3 needs to make sure he doesn’t complex things too much for himself.
Tom Edrington
Beg to differ on those guys being Tiger’s friends from back in the day…..not one had an inkling of Tiger’s mis-deeds….
baxter cepeda
That’s a whole other list of friends.
baxter cepeda
I don’t know about complex.
Remember when Brooks was defending a major but no one showed up for post round interviews?
He realized then he had to get a little bit interesting.
His comments have a lot of contradictions.
Brooks is now not about money but recently noted it would be cool to win the Fed ex 15$ million as one of his excuses to skip the Olympics.
Winning a gold medal would be cool. Historic. Winning fed ex’s head start playoffs would be mostly just about money.
As with the Olympics most of the top players don’t have it in them to stick their necks out first; so his comments about the new league are pretty typical.
The problem with this New tour is it would take everyone out of their comfort zones, not for a week like Rio, but for their entire careers. It will be very hard for anyone to break the PGA Tour stronghold because none of these guys are willing to be that first wildebeest to cross the river with gators looming.
These guys are comfortable.
Where they are is great. Why take any chances?
It doesn’t help that any players dabbling with this new tour will end of Kostis-Ed… so much for PGA Tour being independent.
As Rory said If everyone goes he will follow, but how do you get someone to go? You basically don’t.
It is good Brooks is speaking his mind. It’s good to say things. But he is hardly complex.
Tom Edrington
I disagree; There’s a lot going on with Brooks; That being said, you mention the Olympics……the Coronavirus may end up putting the 2020 Summer Games out of business….