Brooks Koepka on Tiger, “I’m going to catch him on majors”

[bscinstnct]

Very extensive interview with BK. Gotta say, he puts it out there.

 

I have to line by line it, but few interesting quotes,

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.golfdigest.com/story/brooks-koepka-poolside-interview-ryder-cup-masters/amp

 

 

 

“A great example of gamesmanship is what Phil did to me at the PGA. I got trounced on that one. I thought it was pretty good what he was doing.”

 

“Mentally, I still think I’m 21. But the past three years, there’s the realization I’m not that young person anymore who can go Jet Ski or wakeboard or whatever. Getting out of bed now takes 30 minutes to get going. You have to change your lifestyle. I probably packed on 10 to 15 pounds after the knee surgery because I can’t be as active as I was. I can’t go run. I’m never going to be able to run again.”

 

 

 

 

[bladehunter]

Sith Lord perhaps ? 

[miamistomp]

 "I’m never going to be able to run again."

 

 Some politicians should take that advice...

[Phreddy]

It was an excellent read.  The interview puts more meat on the bone than I have ever seen relative to Brooks.  Clearly an immensely talented player, but I am always left to wonder if he really loves the game.  Is it a means to an end (wealth) for him or a passion?  I think for Tiger and Jack it was both.

 

Phred

[ThinkingPlus]

2 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

Sith Lord perhaps ? 

Darth Cupcake has a nice ring to it.

[bladehunter]

Just now, ThinkingPlus said:

Darth Cupcake has a nice ring to it.

Lol. Now that’s good!  

[bscinstnct]

3 minutes ago, Phreddy said:

It was an excellent read.  The interview puts more meat on the bone than I have ever seen relative to Brooks.  Clearly an immensely talented player, but I am always left to wonder if he really loves the game.  Is it a means to an end (wealth) for him or a passion?  I think for Tiger and Jack it was both.

 

Phred

 

He shares some very deep competitive passion to win. That he’s the best. That he thinks he can catch TW. I mean, is he blowing smoke? Insane? He says it like it’s something he feels he *should be able to do. 
 

Im concerned about how he describes his health “never going to be able to run again”. The injuries sure but hope he’s just being pessimistic to think that at his age. 

[Steele47]

Pics say it all.  I mean who the heck wears a mock turtle with a necklace overlay.   He's only 1 step above James Caan in the Godfather wearing the 'wifebeater'.

[PZero]

No, you won't. Injuries, yes. Majors, no.

[ShowMe]

Why is he wearing his GF's light purple shorts?

[ShowMe]

"I’m not a guy that switches. Dustin [Johnson] says he doesn’t switch, but he switches the most out of anybody I’ve ever seen. You might not think it’s a switch, but he’ll have, like, five drivers with him for the week."

 

Didn't DJ recently break his driver during a tournament and have to use a 3 wood because he didn't have another one with him?

[flip flappy]

Some of the stuff surprised me that Brooks talked about. Having kids, love, family thing. What didn’t surprise me is that he tees it up to win and not for second place. He’s fooling himself if he thinks he can catch Tiger or Jack. I could see him winning 7 but not 15 or 18. 

[ShowMe]

"At Oakmont the year Dustin won, I took a practice swing with my Nike driver and took a chunk out of the turf. It was a terrible practice swing—and graphite gets weak over time—and the shaft snapped under the grip. I call Blake [Smith, Koepka’s agent since Koepka turned professional in 2012] and say, “I need you to go in my locker and grab another driver.” I hit 3-wood off the tee, and I’m walking, and I see a kid up there, and I say, “Here you go,” and give him the driver. My dad starts talking to him and makes friends with this kid and his dad. I didn’t think of it at the time, but you can just unscrew the head, and I had made like $3 million using that driver."

 

Not only is he injury-prone, but apparently he's not very bright either ("but you can just unscrew the head..."). 

[bscinstnct]

22 minutes ago, Steele47 said:

Pics say it all.  I mean who the heck wears a mock turtle with a necklace overlay.   He's only 1 step above James Caan in the Godfather wearing the 'wifebeater'.

 

I think he’s going for like a Miami rap guy look 🤣

 

But looks like a pro photo shoot deal, wouldn’t be surprised if they provided a lot of the wardrobe 

[bscinstnct]

6 minutes ago, flip flappy said:

Some of the stuff surprised me that Brooks talked about. Having kids, love, family thing. What didn’t surprise me is that he tees it up to win and not for second place. He’s fooling himself if he thinks he can catch Tiger or Jack. I could see him winning 7 but not 15 or 18. 

 

Interesting that it’s the opposite of how Rory seems to view things. 
 

But I hear BK in a way. You can set lofty goals that are possibly but maybe not probably in reach. And why not? You might surprise yourself and almost get there.,

[Soloman1]

There's a common thread that runs through all the good to great players I've been fortunate to play with and be around (name drop , name drop, name drop...), and that is a confidence. A confidence that they can beat everyone else if a few more putts drop today.

 

Confidence will help any level player score better too.

[ShowMe]

Reading the article, I'm getting a definite anti-Phil vibe.  He gets in quite a few passive aggressive digs against Phil.  Still seems to be upset that Phil outplayed him and out-gamesmanshipped him at the PGA.

[ShowMe]

Who does this sound like?  Hint - He's a regular poster on this site.

 

"But the reality is, I take satisfaction from beating everybody more than anybody knows. I take so much satisfaction that there’s something wrong in my head about it. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing, it’s so intense. I might not always show it, but I’m so intense inside at wanting to beat the living crap out of you at whatever we’re doing. It eats me up inside. We could be playing pingpong or butt or whatever. I just want to embarrass you."

 

🙂

[Steele47]

25 minutes ago, bscinstnct said:

 

I think he’s going for like a Miami rap guy look 🤣

 

But looks like a pro photo shoot deal, wouldn’t be surprised if they provided a lot of the wardrobe 

 

I think the gang from the Jersey Shore provided the wardrobe.

 

 

[Hawkeye77]

1 hour ago, ThinkingPlus said:

Darth Cupcake has a nice ring to it.

Post of the day!!!!!!

[Rapidcat]

1 hour ago, Phreddy said:

It was an excellent read.  The interview puts more meat on the bone than I have ever seen relative to Brooks.  Clearly an immensely talented player, but I am always left to wonder if he really loves the game.  Is it a means to an end (wealth) for him or a passion?  I think for Tiger and Jack it was both.

 

Phred

Yeh, he said that he packed on 10 to 15 pounds.....

[Valtiel]

1 hour ago, ThinkingPlus said:

Darth Cupcake has a nice ring to it.

Shut the thread down, we've peaked. 

[CasualLie]

Refreshing to read a real interview instead of the garbage from podcasts.  Talk about playing to the level of your competition, or in this case, audience.  Good stuff.

 

I don't doubt Koepka one bit for believing he can get 18 majors.  I'm sure he will be the first to say the odds are not good, but so what...he still believes.

[m d g]

1 hour ago, Soloman1 said:

There's a common thread that runs through all the good to great players I've been fortunate to play with and be around (name drop , name drop, name drop...), and that is a confidence. A confidence that they can beat everyone else if a few more putts drop today.

 

Confidence will help any level player score better too.

And also playing with guys that are better than you. I play with a guy who always beats me. My goal is to keep within four strokes as I know I'll post a good score if I do. Two days ago I finally beat him by a single stroke. I always play better with something (even a $2 Nassau) on the line...

 

As for catching Tiger...no.

[kwcsports]

great read, i like BK more now.

[TiScape]

3 hours ago, ThinkingPlus said:

Darth Cupcake has a nice ring to it.

😂 Nice. Someone says that to Brooks at a tournament and he probably looks at them, kinda chuckles and says “not bad”, guy kinda chuckle and says “thanks” and then leaves him alone. And therein lies the difference. Well that or he just looks at the guy and says “thanks ya fat fu*k”. 🤣

[TiScape]

4 hours ago, bscinstnct said:

 

He shares some very deep competitive passion to win. That he’s the best. That he thinks he can catch TW. I mean, is he blowing smoke? Insane? He says it like it’s something he feels he *should be able to do. 
 

Most great athletes use visualization techniques to obtain specific goals. Visualization combined with a specific training program/schedule is a powerful tool for an athlete. They have to truly believe they can reach a specific goal, visualize doing it. Can Brooks actually obtain this goal of equaling Tiger’s majors? In all honesty probably not. But to have any chance, he has to truly believe he can. 

[MattyO1984]

Really interesting read, thanks for sharing @bscinstnct

 

In depth and a lot of different subjects broached but coming away from it, I am still not sure that I get Brooks. Some of what he says I am reading it and I am thinking that I flat out just don’t believe him. Strikes me as the sort of guy wants to say something to shock but some of what he says is contradicted by other information that we have - he and Dustin are they friends? Seemed pretty universal that they were then last year he said that they weren’t but then they seem to spend a lot of time together? He hasn’t had a regular swing coach for 5 years but split from Claude Harmon last year?

[imakaveli]

Go Brooks!

[TheDeanAbides]

I thought this was the most important part of that interview:

 

"

Did you watch the Naomi Osaka documentary?

I did.

It made me sad because it seemed like she had the capacity to say no and exert more control over her life, but she wouldn’t or couldn’t. She didn’t have people around her telling her the truth.

To be honest, there have been times when Blake has been like, “Bro, you need to chill.” Jena [Sims, Koepka’s fiancee] is the same way. I felt bad for [Osaka] in the same way you did. I remember the scene where her trainer came to her and said, “Hey, maybe every month we as a group should sit down and voice what’s going on.” And she was like, “I don’t really have a voice.” That was interesting because you know how she always referred to herself as a vessel? Sometimes you have to be strong enough to have that voice inside yourself and be the authoritative figure. Sometimes you have to sit back, listen and take the criticism. I really liked what Giannis [Antetokounmpo] said: When you’re thinking about the past, that’s ego. That was one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard because when you start thinking of mistakes or screw ups or how you missed that shot or this shot, that’s just your ego being hurt. If you keep staying in the present, you’re fine. The other part of it is that you can’t look too far into the future. There’s a fine little balance in there."