What Brooks Koepka said after winning the PGA Championship
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Brooks Koepka claimed his third major victory and second title this year at the PGA Championship on Sunday; here’s what he said after his win
On winning his third major…
When I look at what I’ve done in the past two months, it’s incredible. Looking where I was, sitting on my couch watching the Masters, and to think I would do this, I would have laughed at you and told you there was no way, no chance, and to do it is really incredible. My doctors, physios, trainers, everybody did an unbelievable job even to get back out on the golf course, and to do what I’ve done is very impressive. I can’t even believe it.
Three Majors at 28, I didn’t — it’s a cool feeling. It really is. You know, hopefully I can stay healthy. I’ve kind of had some trouble with that over the past two years, three years, whatever it was. Missed the British and then to miss Augusta. You know, I think I’m much more disciplined now, so I should be able to play every Major, making sure my body’s healthy.
But I’m excited. I’m excited for the next few years. I mean, as fans — like I’m a fan of golf. You should be excited. I mean, Tiger’s come back. You look at what Dustin’s doing, Justin, Rory, Spieth — I mean, it’s a great time to be a golf fan. I can’t wait to duel it out with them over the next couple years or next however long.
On having self belief he could get it done today…
I have a lot of self belief. I knew, even today, when everybody was making that charge, if I just hung in there, made one more shot, one good shot at a time, kept it rolling, I knew I was going to have a chance to kind of separate myself maybe a little bit, and that finally came on 15. And then to hit such a good shot on 16, and especially to make the putt when Scotty almost chipped it in. You know, that could — if I missed that, that could be a real role reversal right there.
On tapping in his putt on the final hole before Adam Scott…
it was so short, first off, and then the fact of I’ve got — it was kind of — I didn’t want it to be in his way because I knew he’d be looking at it. It was so close to the hole, I didn’t want to take away from anything that he was doing because I knew he needed to make the putt, and I kind of wanted to get out of his way. Otherwise, if I’d have hit it six, eight inches further and not directly behind the hole, I probably would have marked it. But just for the fact that it was in his sight line when he’s looking at the hole, especially right with the way it breaks coming up left to right, I just didn’t want him staring at it.
On Tiger’s comeback…
I think, other than me, my team, everybody was rooting for Tiger. I mean, as they should. He’s probably — he’s the greatest player to ever play the game, and to have the comeback that he’s having is incredible. You look at the British Open, when he finally got that lead, how energetic that crowd was. And then when he started making that run, it brought me back to when I was a kid and when I was watching him and you heard those roars. I remember I went to the British Open — I forget what year it was. When Ben Curtis won. And he was kind of making a charge, and you could hear the roars.
I mean, being a part of that as a fan is cool, and even when you’re playing, it’s still pretty neat. It kind of pushes you to step up your game. I mean, you have to because you know he’s right there if you fall.
On the crowds in St Louis…
They’ve been amazing. I’ve never seen this many people at a golf tournament. They were as energetic and loud as I’ve ever seen. I don’t think — I mean, on Wednesday, I don’t even think there’s been that many people at an event that I’ve ever played at. And then when you come out here on Saturday afternoon, the crowds — I mean, I don’t even know what to say.
I’ve never seen that many people at a golf tournament. It’s actually — I mean, I know that it’s a big sports town, which is awesome, and then to see all these people come out and support the golf tournament, I love it. I wish it was like that every week.
On battling it out between Adam Scott and Tiger Woods…
Yeah, obviously it was kind of the first time Tiger’s been in contention and I’ve been in contention at the same time, so the fans definitely let you know what he was doing. And I was playing with Scotty, so I knew what I was up against. And Scotty played unbelievably well and so did Tiger. They definitely made me question it there for a bit or think about it, for sure.
On being sidelined earlier in the year with injury giving him motivation…
I think sitting on the couch made me really appreciate how much I actually love this game and love competition. When you’re out of competition — I don’t want to say I was depressed, but I was definitely down. And to finally have the chance to come back and play, I can’t tell you how excited I was. I couldn’t wait to get off the couch. I couldn’t wait to get up in the morning. And some of those days, I don’t think I moved off the couch at all. I got fat, gained about 15, 20 pounds. That’s never fun. And I just kept telling myself, I just kind of talked to myself, all right, one day at a time. Keep going, keep going. You’re getting closer and closer. And then finally to get the okay from the doctors, I’ve never been more focused, more driven, more excited to play and really embracing what’s around me.
I feel like I’ve done a very good job of that when I’ve come back, and I just need to keep that up because, obviously, it’s working.
