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

[stinger_gc]

1 hour ago, Blade Junkie said:

He might be "only 31" but when you consider that the likes of Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros and Arnold Palmer never won another major after the ages of 33,31, and 34 respectively, he's basically already at the dark end of the twilight of his Major-winning peak, and especially so when you consider his track record of injuries.

 

He says he'll never run again, but no problem winning another 11 Majors to tie Tiger ... OK Brooks ... LOL 

Yeah, but at the same time Hogan won his first major at 34. Mickelson at 33. Faldo won all 6 of his majors after turning 30. Maybe he might go on a nice run in his 30s.

[bladehunter]

10 minutes ago, TiScape said:

Last American car with rear wheel drive? Quite a few modern foreign models have rear wheel drive now. The GNX  was the ultimate sleeper back in the day. Well at least for a little while. Didn’t take guys in Camaros and Vettes long to figure out to avoid ‘em! Haha 

Want to blow your own mind ?  Loookup prices for a GNX now.  Or heck. Even just a grand National.  They’re in the 50k range all day.  Here’s a GNX documented  sale.  Two in fact if you read the article.  Ine $150k. One $200k. I’ve spent many Saturday nights trying to outrun one. Lol. In more than a handful of pretty hot 5.0 cars.  There’s also a very rare trans am model that had the GNX power plant and a Dana rear axle.  So same power.  Lighter car.  Now it’s mucho dinero.  Like $200k and up. For an 80s rattle trap.  😂

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1126764_the-final-scene-bullitt-mustang-sells-for-record-price

 

Edited September 15, 2021 by bladehunter

[miamistomp]

21 minutes ago, bscinstnct said:

 

Yeah, I remember vaguely, was like some special edition?

 

Similar to the Monte SS, those were around a lot. 

 Grand Nationals had a special intercooled turbo advertised at 230 horse but made near 300

0-60 in 4.7

 

in 88 went fwd and the party was over

[the bishop]

5 hours ago, bscinstnct said:

 

I think that whether it’s Mike Tyson, Tiger, or Tom Brady

 

Fear and, perhaps a lack of confidence, is a huge driver of their obsession in preparing and training for success.

 

BK has said he doesn’t practice as much, goes weeks without touching a club, not super motivated unless it’s a major.

 

He is nowhere near good enough to beat the competition on basis required to win 15 majors with this attitude. Not that he should change. He should do what works for him.

 

But he’s just one of 5-10 guys as good as him every day. And just one of 50+ guys who can beat him good any given day. 

 

 

 

 

Tiger was in win mode, crush the competition all the time - major or not.  He said on multiple occasions if he's teeing it up he's there to win and his record bears that out.  Brooks has won regular Tour events and had some good finishes but overall his record in non-majors suggests he's not of the same mindset.  And to his credit he shows up in majors - with regularity.  But Tiger's approach to non-majors is what allowed his closure rate in majors to be what it was.  Jack as well.  That doesn't seem to register with Brooks or if it does he doesn't care and thinks he can flip the switch enough times to catch Tiger or Jack.  Doubt it will happen but respect him voicing it.

[the bishop]

5 hours ago, Tdsjfb said:

Zero chance he catches Tiger. Just ask Sabbatini.

When Brooks reaches his potential, it'll just be him and Poults.

[miamistomp]

26 minutes ago, TiScape said:

Last American car with rear wheel drive? Quite a few modern foreign models have rear wheel drive now. The Grand Nationals and GNXs were the ultimate sleepers back in the day. Well at least for a little while. Didn’t take guys in Camaros and Vettes long to figure out to avoid ‘em! Haha 

 Not last American RWD

 Last of the GM G bodies ( Cutlass, Grand Prix, Malibu etc ) super popular in the 80's and used in NASCAR

[bscinstnct]

22 minutes ago, PHILsThemannnn said:

Yeah, but at the same time Hogan won his first major at 34. Mickelson at 33. Faldo won all 6 of his majors after turning 30. Maybe he might go on a nice run in his 30s.

 

Good stuff PTm. Definitely worth keeping in mind that golf is a game with an extended range of age for being competitive.

 

BK, and credit to his honesty, cites a pretty poor health picture for himself. He could be playing possum though. 
 

Let’s see how long it takes him to win…one more! If he can do it next year, he only has to do it 10 more times ; )

[bladehunter]

Here’s a pretty close example of my favorite street fighter form my uncle Rico days.   Mine Was an ex SC highway patrol car.  Captains unmarked car.  Had no lights on top , but did have the shotgun mount holes left inside and the Motorola radio mount in place.  Wild strawberry color like this.  I had a 5 lug conversion and weld draglites on it. And a B cam with trick flow brand heads snd intake. Plus a bottle in the trunk.  😬.  Once I got the G force spec trans and twin disc  clutch in it , it sounded like a shotgun blast every time a changed gears at full speed.  And it would dance quite a bit side to side with the rear bumper nearly  dragging . Basically if you had it toed , it was both hands and both feet to keep it between the ditches.  Lol.  And I still got outrun on the top end by the guy I knew With the GNX.  
 

was as nice as this one.  And it burned to the Ground in 2001.  While going down the road. Something electrical in the dash. I stopped , jumped out and while on the old flip phone with 911 it blew the glass out.  Never liked a car that much since.  And I’ve had many.  
 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1993-Ford-Mustang-LX-/165070456078?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 

[miamistomp]

93 was the last year of the cool little Fox body

 

[braincramp52]

41 minutes ago, miamistomp said:

 Not last American RWD

 Last of the GM G bodies ( Cutlass, Grand Prix, Malibu etc ) super popular in the 80's and used in NASCAR

My 2016 Chrysler 300C is RWD.

[dropkicked]

Bruce be like...

[TiScape]

So Brooks needs 11 majors to catch Tiger. So let’s say he envisions himself winning a major a year. That would mean he ties Tiger when he’s 42/43 years old. Is this goal really any different than any other top tier golf professional? I would bet at the beginning of the season each of them believes they can win a major that season. Will he? As I’ve already stated, probably not. But is a professional golfer feeling they can win one of the four majors each season ground breaking or headline news?? Absolutely not. I mean can you imagine asking a DJ, Jordan, Bryson, Rory, Collin… Do you think you can win a major this season and them saying or thinking no??? Yeah, exactly. Him saying it to the press and using Tiger’s name is what’s getting people’s attention. 

Edited September 16, 2021 by TiScape

[00steven]

He won’t, but I love the mentality. It’s very interesting to see a player get up specifically for the majors. 

[Cliffy2020]

If Koepka even gets to unlucky 13 majors I’ll get 

 

B R O 👁 K S Y

 

tattooed right across my brown eye!!
It will be my first and only tat with pictures for all the internet to see.

 

Write that down tonight. 9/15/2021

[ATLgopher]

23 hours 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 loves being the center of attention and if breaking records gets him there, that’s what he cares about.

 

it’s obvious he doesn’t love the game and anyone that thinks he does isn’t paying attention 

[TiScape]

1 hour ago, Cliffy2020 said:

If Koepka even gets to unlucky 13 majors I’ll get 

 

B R O 👁 K S Y

 

tattooed right across my brown eye!!
It will be my first and only tat with pictures for all the internet to see.

 

Write that down tonight. 9/15/2021

Now I REALLY hope he doesn’t get to 13! 🤣

[bscinstnct]

1 hour ago, TiScape said:

So Brooks needs 11 majors to catch Tiger. So let’s say he envisions himself winning a major a year. That would mean he ties Tiger when he’s 42/43 years old. Is this goal really any different than any other top tier golf professional? I would bet at the beginning of the season each of them believes they can win a major that season. Will he? As I’ve already stated, probably not. But is a professional golfer feeling they can win one of the four majors each season ground breaking or headline news?? Absolutely not. I mean can you imagine asking a DJ, Jordan, Bryson, Rory, Collin… Do you think you can win a major this season and them saying or thinking no??? Yeah, exactly. Him saying it to the press and using Tiger’s name is what’s getting people’s attention. 

 

Point well made. 
 

It’s interesting because, as you pose the question, do you think you can win a major this season, many top guys would say yes. 
 

But if you’d ask them.

 

Do you think you’ll win 15 majors?

 

They’d probably have difficulty not laughing. 🤣

 

Can’t question BKs mindset, he thinks he has a limited number of guys to beat and stacks up his game against any of them. 
 

I think some guys who feel they have game never would start even self-prognosticating about how many majors they will win. They will just focus on doing the things needed to max their game. 
 

BK has basically done a Rory or a Spieth. Played dominant golf for 2-3 years then gone silent for 2. He’s seen Rory go goosegg for 7 years and Jordan for 4 years. 
 

So he sees that winning a major every year isn’t very realistic. He’s got great game but it’s nowhere near TW 1.0, miles away. Strong tee to green. Average to below average around the green. His putting went from great to mediocre for the past 4 season.

 

So, good he’s confident but he just doesn’t have the game to mention himself in the same universe as TW. 
 

 

[braincramp52]

I think I dislike Brooks more than I do Bryson. As far as I'm concerned they could be brothers from different mothers. 

[stinger_gc]

2 minutes ago, braincramp52 said:

I think I dislike Brooks more than I do Bryson. As far as I'm concerned they could be brothers from different mothers. 

They remind me of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly from step-brothers! All we need to find is a golfer both Brooks and Bryson hate

[bobfoster]

On 9/14/2021 at 10:25 PM, 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

 

For Jack I think it was mostly about passion, but maybe a little about money. During the era of his peak, you didn't make much money playing golf. More like a comfortable middle to upper middle class life. Even the best didn't live in mansions and fly to tourneys in private jets. In fact, his entire career earnings on the pro Tour - including 73 PGA wins, that 18 majors were a part of was ... $5.7 million. (Rahm just won $5 million for coming in second in the FedEx Cup final - a single tournament for goodness sake - my how golf has changed). I think Jack was passionate about golf, but especially in his early years probably also worried about things as mundane as house payments.

 

For Tiger, while I'm sure he loves the money, I suspect it is 99.9% about golf. After his first decade on tour he already had more money than 10 people could spend in a lifetime. Could have easily sat on his couch (or yacht) and watched sports for the rest of his life. But he not only kept up an insane practice schedule, he's also gone through multiple (sometimes very painful) surgeries, along with months of recovery PT to get himself back in game shape. And he's still doing it. He's 45, and will likely take a full year to recover from the last car crash, but he still plans to be back on tour. Wants to play in majors. Though he doesn't even remotely need to for financial reasons. 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by bobfoster

[TiScape]

I think it’s time to identify the real issue here… It’s clear Brooks can’t win a major without Mizuno irons. 🤣

[bobfoster]

On 9/14/2021 at 10:55 PM, 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. 

Yes - only three players in history have won double digit majors - Jack, Tiger, and Walter Hagan ... though Hogan and Player were close with nine. 

 

Pretty rarified air up there. Koepka is good, but I don't really see him ever being at that level. Maybe he's a Rory, or even a Phil, but Jack, Tiger and Walter (and maybe Bobby Jones, if he'd kept at it) were once-a-generation players. Koepka really just is not.

 

Plus (or mostly), he's already dealing with periodic physical problems - not just the normal aches and pains that every professional athlete has, but things serious enough to keep him off the course for weeks, months at a time. Out for almost four months in 2018 with a damaged wrist. Torn tendon in his knee in 2019, reinjured late 2019 - another three months off the tour. Back and knee problems in 2020 - withdrew from the Northern Trust, and missed the US Open completely. Withdrew from the 2021 Players because of a knee. Missed the cut at the Masters (after undergoing knee surgery). Then the infamous root at the Tour Championship.

 

His body seems to be starting to fall apart a bit - all this, already. It would make sense if he was 45, but he's barely turned 30. And (as some of the older guys here well know) this won't get better as he ages, it will only get worse. He's already having problems with his wrist, back, and knee - the three most common golf injuries (and the three most critical parts of the body for golf). At this point, he is consistently missing from the tour with some sort of injury or injuries for a not insignificant portion of every year. And not just tournaments, he's missing majors. This isn't just something that magically gets better - there's not likely to be an "oops, okay that's all behind me, I'll now have a perfectly healthy decade". As we economists say, the trendline is sloping downward.

 

Great golfer when he's healthy, but 15 majors? 18? Nah. Just not seeing it. In fact, I probably wouldn't lay money on his body letting him still be on tour at 40. 

Edited September 16, 2021 by bobfoster

[OrangeGravy]

12 hours ago, Ferguson said:

John Lord 

 

He played keyboards on the Spinal Tap song, Stonehenge, right? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where the demons live, and they do live well!

[llewol007]

The thing about the new player as comparison to Tiger in his hey day was that Tiger was all about golf in his younger portion of his career. Tiger made the mistake to get too into over fitness and training which I believe led to the injuries he has today. Looking at Brooks, his body broke down on him. He is another who has fallen victim to over training. He can say all he wants which is fair because he is a high caliber player. But his body wont last. Same can be said about JayDay and Bryson will run into the same problem. Good thing is that his body is still young but all it takes is one tweaked muscle pull and he wont be swinging the way he does. Brooks is a good player. But he is a great player looking at a legendary player. Big difference.

[tw_focus]

So, I appreciate the fact that BK is putting it all out there and letting it known that he's in it to win it, but his prediction is not realistic. The guy is stuck on 4 and is having health issues. If he could get to 8 it would be REALLY good, he would be considered one of the greats of the game. Maybe he'll prove everyone wrong, but I'd say the odds are worse than 99-1 of him passing TW. But anything could happen.

[OrangeGravy]

8 hours ago, bscinstnct said:

 

Nice. This was my Uncle Rico mobile in HS. 

 

Engine was called 350 Rocket. Had a 4bbl. 
 

Could run with a lot of newer cars…if you were going straight 🤣. Handling? Not so good ; )

 

 

 

 

Almost got my hands on a red '71 convertible ^. Bought a 1991 grand wagoneer in black cherry instead. Had to refuel every other day

[elwhippy]

He needs to stay healthy. Too many surgeries too young is going to hamper his longevity. And the sheer depth of talent in Golf. 

[Ferguson]

Let's ask the XXIO gang what they think of Bruce:

(from the left)

 

 

Madison: "The only thing he'll catch is a new STD strain after an overbooked coach flight from Cleveland." 

The JT: "I'm down with The Brooksy."

Penelope: "Clearly, he's not a critical thinker." 

Falmouth: "He's not the sort of guy to own a very extensive art collection."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bscinstnct]

7 hours ago, OrangeGravy said:

Where the demons live, and they do live well!

 

 

[bscinstnct]

7 hours ago, OrangeGravy said:

Almost got my hands on a red '71 convertible ^. Bought a 1991 grand wagoneer in black cherry instead. Had to refuel every other day

 

Now that was a nice car. Remember this kid got one, total dweeb, and you’d see him all over the county with cute chicks in the car. They just wanted to ride in the car but still! 
 

Here’s that 350 Rocket I was takin bout

 

 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by bscinstnct