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

[ShowMe]

42 minutes ago, physasst said:

 

 

Exactly. I played D1 college tennis. I remember several times saying "bring Agassi on, bring any of them on!" Could I beat them? Almost certainly not....but in my mind, to play at my peak, I needed to think that way. I remember being down at Van der Meer's in 1990 and getting to hit some balls with Stefan Edberg. It was amazing...did I come away respecting him yeah, but there was a part of me that thought "On the right day, I can beat that guy"....I have no problem with what BK said. Do I think he'll do it? Probably not, but if that's what he needs to believe to play at his peak....good on him...

 

M

 

So I went to the same high school as Tim Mayotte.  He was a couple of years ahead of me.  He went on to Stanford and won the NCAA singles title in '81.  Got to #7 in the world at one point after turning professional.

 

In high school, he was already a big deal.  State champ, Regional champ, etc.  Anyway, I was on the JV team at the time, and we played a practice set once.  He served first and double faulted four times.  I was up 1-0.  Started to think, "This guy is nothing.  All hype.  I can beat him."  Didn't win another game.  Didn't even win another point unless he double-faulted.  The dude was incredible, even in high school.  World class.

 

That's the difference between Nicklaus and Koepka.  Put both of them in their prime, and Jack wins every time unless he does the golf equivalent of "double faulting."  Same comparison with Koepka and Tiger.  Tiger wins every time.  Koepka is a very good golfer, but he is a wannabe great golfer.  He will always wannabe Jack or Tiger, but will never get there.

[bubbagump]

12 minutes ago, ShowMe said:

 

So I went to the same high school as Tim Mayotte.  He was a couple of years ahead of me.  He went on to Stanford and won the NCAA singles title in '81.  Got to #7 in the world at one point after turning professional.

 

In high school, he was already a big deal.  State champ, Regional champ, etc.  Anyway, I was on the JV team at the time, and we played a practice set once.  He served first and double faulted four times.  I was up 1-0.  Started to think, "This guy is nothing.  All hype.  I can beat him."  Didn't win another game.  Didn't even win another point unless he double-faulted.  The dude was incredible, even in high school.  World class.

 

That's the difference between Nicklaus and Koepka.  Put both of them in their prime, and Jack wins every time unless he does the golf equivalent of "double faulting."  Same comparison with Koepka and Tiger.  Tiger wins every time.  Koepka is a very good golfer, but he is a wannabe great golfer.  He will always wannabe Jack or Tiger, but will never get there.

 

Not really an indictment given those are are like 1a/1b of ever.  I think in that realm of great golfers that is more tangible in real life, Brooks easily features in there and has for a while.  Nothing really wrong with that or striving for more.  

Edited September 17, 2021 by bubbagump

[byoshio82]

NO chance in hell he catches Phil let alone Tiger. Morikawa could potentially be that guy because he is so well rounded and doesn't seem to rack up a lot of injuries. 

[Go Cougs]

1 hour ago, ShowMe said:

 

So I went to the same high school as Tim Mayotte.  He was a couple of years ahead of me.  He went on to Stanford and won the NCAA singles title in '81.  Got to #7 in the world at one point after turning professional.

 

In high school, he was already a big deal.  State champ, Regional champ, etc.  Anyway, I was on the JV team at the time, and we played a practice set once.  He served first and double faulted four times.  I was up 1-0.  Started to think, "This guy is nothing.  All hype.  I can beat him."  Didn't win another game.  Didn't even win another point unless he double-faulted.  The dude was incredible, even in high school.  World class.

 

That's the difference between Nicklaus and Koepka.  Put both of them in their prime, and Jack wins every time unless he does the golf equivalent of "double faulting."  Same comparison with Koepka and Tiger.  Tiger wins every time.  Koepka is a very good golfer, but he is a wannabe great golfer.  He will always wannabe Jack or Tiger, but will never get there.

You guys are really bringing me back to my high school tennis days.

[jqsmooth]

Why not Nicklaus?  It's just 3 more.  What a joke!

[OldCuss]

We had a good basketball team and we were down by nine after the second quarter. We believed in our capability, we could win, we had a record to suggest such and for the next two quarters played well. We lost by over twenty points. 

 

A game is not a career, of course, but we let our playing do our talking and had nothing or any need to explain when we lost; we gave it all we had, it started and ended on the floor, and that was good enough. Disappointed, sure, but as far as I know, no emotional issues to subsequently address.

 

The team that beat us was like us but it was better, as the record would show. Also like us, it really didn't talk about what it was going to do excepting internal conversations - a different time - other than share that its goal was to win when it takes the floor and to win it all by doing so. Confident, yes, but that it would be the best? No. Could be? Yes. More like "we have the talent but we must demonstrate it and we are committed to doing so." It's also about respecting the moment and not getting ahead of oneself. There is both a proximal and distal focus and keeping each in its place is advised.

 

Research reveals that those with goals tend to achieve more than those without such and public, variously defined,  commitment to goals can reinforce commitment.

 

Old Cuss 

[I'_rather_be_golfing]

This is why cupcake and angry scientist are so much a like. They say the absolute dumbest things without thinking first. 

[ShowMe]

3 hours ago, Go Cougs said:

You guys are really bringing me back to my high school tennis days.

 

Mine were the days of really short tennis shorts.  Almost "hot pants" short.

[oikos1]

This thread has turned hysterical.  Personal stories that don't mean a damn thing in relation to Koepka catching Tiger.  Brooks says he doesn't care about non-major wins because he knows the measure of the Goat is major wins.  Period.  Some of you seem to be content  winning piddly-diddly and such, apparently a world class golfer just thinks differently.

 

And no, he's not catching Tiger or Jack.

[I'_rather_be_golfing]

13 minutes ago, oikos1 said:

This thread has turned hysterical.  Personal stories that don't mean a damn thing in relation to Koepka catching Tiger.  Brooks says he doesn't care about non-major wins because he knows the measure of the Goat is major wins.  Period.  Some of you seem to be content  winning piddly-diddly and such, apparently a world class golfer just thinks differently.

 

And no, he's not catching Tiger or Jack.

You are right about world class golfers think differently. He should probably take a few notes from the likes of Morikawa. And humble himself down a ton. 

[Llortamaisey]

Brooks may win a ton of majors, I hope he does. Heck, I believe he could possibly pass Tiger and Jack. However, it seems like no matter how many he wins, Brooks will always be remembered as the Robert Horry of majors; right place, right time. He doesn’t have the intangibles of a GOAT. Everyone forgets about him all season until he’s left wide open for a corner three late in a finals game. That’s not a GOAT. 

Edited September 18, 2021 by Llortamaisey

[bobfoster]

23 minutes ago, oikos1 said:

This thread has turned hysterical.  Personal stories that don't mean a damn thing in relation to Koepka catching Tiger.  Brooks says he doesn't care about non-major wins because he knows the measure of the Goat is major wins.  Period.  Some of you seem to be content  winning piddly-diddly and such, apparently a world class golfer just thinks differently.

 

Well, Jack and Tiger were sorta world class golfers, and they didn't seem to think piddly-diddly tourneys were beneath them. Tiger has 67 non-major wins, and Jack 54. They certainly did a bit more preparation for majors (everyone does), but clearly also took the most mundane of the regular weeky tour grind very seriously.

 

Maybe that's one of the reasons they actually are GOATs, instead of being one of the very many that talk and dream about becoming one.

[Titleist 670]

Brooks is right in that I'm sure he shows up to each major thinking he can win, but I don't think he actually believes he will pass Tiger.

 

And I don't think he will come close, as a fan of his.  It's just that hard to do.  I bet he gets 5 or 6 total, but 7 or more would shock me.

[CasualLie]

31 minutes ago, bobfoster said:

 

Well, Jack and Tiger were sorta world class golfers, and they didn't seem to think piddly-diddly tourneys were beneath them. Tiger has 67 non-major wins, and Jack 54. They certainly did a bit more preparation for majors (everyone does), but clearly also took the most mundane of the regular weeky tour grind very seriously.

 

Maybe that's one of the reasons they actually are GOATs, instead of being one of the very many that talk and dream about becoming one.

 

That seems a bit over simplifying.  No one is going to be a world class golfer unless they... Wait for it... Play golf.  These guys are not going to just circle for tournaments on the calendar.  Still, Tiger was very selective in where he played.  40 wins at 6 courses, not exactly grinding it out at the Tick Tock Open.  There were many tournaments "beneath him".  But not faulting him one bit.

[nsxguy]

On 9/15/2021 at 2:12 PM, TiScape said:

Modern media/television focusing on irrelevant made up drama in the hopes of raising the ratings?!?! 😱 Say it ain’t so! 🤣 

 

Agreed.

 

Guess it's kinda sorta like anonymous posters on the internet who never accomplished anything in their lives trashing a guy at the top of his sport,,,,,,,,, because they don't like him.

[bobfoster]

25 minutes ago, CasualLie said:

 

That seems a bit over simplifying.  No one is going to be a world class golfer unless they... Wait for it... Play golf.  These guys are not going to just circle for tournaments on the calendar.  Still, Tiger was very selective in where he played.  40 wins at 6 courses, not exactly grinding it out at the Tick Tock Open.  There were many tournaments "beneath him".  But not faulting him one bit.

Every golfer that can be selective, is. Usually when guys first get their cards, they'll play almost anything (even Tiger, who had a stunning amateur run, and already had sponsorships). Tiger's first pro year included the Greater Milwaukee Open, The Quad City Classic (definately a Tick Tock Open, as the President's Cup was also that week - almost no media was even in Illinois), and the LaCantera Texas Open.

 

Most guys in the top 50 that have been on tour for a while have their favorite tourneys and courses, and those they skip. They don't however, tie Sam Snead for most wins on tour in the history of golf.

 

I see what you're saying, but I was responding to someone who claimed that "Brooks says he doesn't care about non-major wins because he knows the measure of the Goat is major wins.  Period."

 

Apparently to Brooks every non-major is kind of beneath him. His record shows it - 4 majors, 1 WGC, and 3 other PGA Tour wins. He doesn't care about anything but majors. Was just pointing out that Jack and Tiger most certainly did.

[Tycall]

On 9/14/2021 at 10:53 PM, ShowMe said:

"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?

 Exactly and DJ is often seen testing equipment but then falls back to something that worked in the past like his sim 10.5

[grm24]

34 minutes ago, bobfoster said:

Every golfer that can be selective, is. Usually when guys first get their cards, they'll play almost anything (even Tiger, who had a stunning amateur run, and already had sponsorships). Tiger's first pro year included the Greater Milwaukee Open, The Quad City Classic (definately a Tick Tock Open, 

In your example about Tiger you are missing one gigantic issue. When Tiger turned professional in late August 1996 the week after he won his 3rd consecutive US Amateur he didn't have a PGA Tour card or any type of tour status. He had no choice but to use sponsor exemptions to start play on the PGA Tour. That is until he won his first then second PGA Tour events a few weeks later. The rest is history.

[grm24]

2 hours ago, CasualLie said:

Still, Tiger was very selective in where he played.  40 wins at 6 courses, not exactly grinding it out at the Tick Tock Open.  

Very fair point. That said don't many of the winningest players on the PGA Tour most wins list win at many of the same places? Why is winning time and again on the same course held against players? Especially Tiger. Jack won 6 times at ANGC. Is that held against him? 

 

Is winning at the same course over and over again a bad thing? If so why? Would love to hear an actual rational reason why. TBH there isn't one (see the Jack stat above). If it is so easy for a player to win at certain courses in multiples why don't other players do the same thing? Not sure for how many different courses Jack and Sam won at on the PGA Tour. It has to be a crazy number solely on the number of tour wins they have. Same as TW.

 

Some years back somebody here figured that Tiger had won on at a minimum 35 different courses on the PGA Tour. To to say nothing of how many other courses around the world.

 

If it is only 35 different courses Tiger won on in his PGA Tour career simply take a moment to realize how crazy that is. How many people on the PGA Tour have 35 wins in their career? It would be 14th place in all time wins.

[OrangeGravy]

On 9/16/2021 at 4:49 AM, bscinstnct said:

 

 

The Euro RC team is like Nigel's amp, they go to 11 every cup. The Americans keep trying to make 10 louder, but it will never beat 11

[OrangeGravy]

On 9/16/2021 at 4:54 AM, bscinstnct said:

 

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

 

 

 

 

Luv those old Buick/Olds wheels. 64 Skylark is on my list

[oikos1]

9 hours ago, bobfoster said:

 

Well, Jack and Tiger were sorta world class golfers, and they didn't seem to think piddly-diddly tourneys were beneath them. Tiger has 67 non-major wins, and Jack 54. They certainly did a bit more preparation for majors (everyone does), but clearly also took the most mundane of the regular weeky tour grind very seriously.

 

Maybe that's one of the reasons they actually are GOATs, instead of being one of the very many that talk and dream about becoming one.

Nicklaus played in an era where you needed to play and to win to get paid.  Tiger is, well, Tiger.  I never placed a value as to Koepka's thinking (he is top 30 for all time major wins so I don't think it's all just talk and dreaming), and I don't believe he's catching either one of them in majors won for numerous reasons. 

 

However, he knows what counts in the history books.  That's why there are only two in the Goat conversation, and they go #1 and #2 for most Major wins in golf.

[bscinstnct]

9 hours ago, oikos1 said:

This thread has turned hysterical.  Personal stories that don't mean a damn thing in relation to Koepka catching Tiger.  Brooks says he doesn't care about non-major wins because he knows the measure of the Goat is major wins.  Period.  Some of you seem to be content  winning piddly-diddly and such, apparently a world class golfer just thinks differently.

 

And no, he's not catching Tiger or Jack.

 

 

“Brooks says he doesn't care about non-major wins because he knows the measure of the Goat is major wins.  Period.”

 

This underlines the difference between BK and TW. 

 

BK says his focus is prime in majors but has difficulty getting motivated and focused for other tour events.

 

TW not only had the same focus and motivation in every tournament. But the goal to have same focus and motivation level in every round, every shot, putt, and down to every practice stroke for every 3 foot putt. 

So, you see this end result of 15 majors. But that result is born of the activity and all the intermediate accomplishments we see in his “day to day” work….

 

693 weeks at #1

 

95% closing rate with a 3 day lead

 

Winning 5 straight PGA Tour starts on 3 different occasions 

 

142 straight cuts made

 

This speaks to a very different mentality. But also a caliber of play that leaves BK in the dust. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[stinger_gc]

19 hours ago, miamistomp said:

 It is like the Masters

  You can only wear it on the prison grounds and they hold it for you until you return as a repeat offender

Darn it Tiger was so close to having 16 majors! I think a mugshot should qualify, only 2 more to catch Jack.

[bscinstnct]

58 minutes ago, PHILsThemannnn said:

Darn it Tiger was so close to having 16 majors! I think a mugshot should qualify, only 2 more to catch Jack.

 

Man, TW be loookin like

 

“Ugly” as Eli Wallach as Tuco. 
 

 

 

 

But then he be like 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by bscinstnct

[TiScape]

How did Brooks get labeled ‘cupcake’?  Urban dictionary says a cupcake is a sensitive and childish person. I’ve never thought of Brooks as being much of either. I perceive him more as a dick that just doesn’t give a F what people think about him??? 

[ThinkingPlus]

6 minutes ago, TiScape said:

How did Brooks get labeled ‘cupcake’?  Urban dictionary says a cupcake is a sensitive and childish person. I’ve never thought of Brooks as being much of either. I perceive him more as a dick that just doesn’t give a F what people think about him??? 

Pronunciation of Koepka ~ Cupcake

[TiScape]

1 hour ago, ThinkingPlus said:

Pronunciation of Koepka ~ Cupcake

Oh gotcha. Thanks

[TiScape]

5 hours ago, PHILsThemannnn said:

Darn it Tiger was so close to having 16 majors! I think a mugshot should qualify, only 2 more to catch Jack.

Oh man. Instantly reminded me of the pic. I attached below. I’m gonna go with that would have constituted “harassment” under Monhan’s new rule! Funny thing is the guy that wore it claimed he was a Tiger fan (why in the world would a Tiger fan wear that shirt???) and apparently Tiger kinda just grinned when he saw it. 

Edited September 18, 2021 by TiScape

[stinger_gc]

16 minutes ago, TiScape said:

Oh man. Instantly reminded me of the pic. I attached below. I’m gonna go with that would have constituted “harassment” under Monhan’s new rule! Funny thing is the guy that wore it claimed he was a Tiger fan (why in the world would a Tiger fan wear that shirt???) and apparently Tiger kinda just grinned when he saw it. 

Tiger has a sense of humor unlike Brooksy.