In the span of a few months, Brooks Koepka has gone from robotic, golf caveman to one of the most candid and interesting interviews in the sport.
During a press blitz as a part of his PGA Championship defense, Koepka opened up on everything from Patrick Reed at the Ryder Cup to Sergio Garcia in Saudi Arabia, and during a Town Hall on SiriusXM Radio with fellow Florida State alum Danny Kannell, Koepka lobbed a shot at the PGA Tour for slow play enforcement.
“It is frustrating. There’s a lot of slow players, a lot of them are the very good players, too, which is kind of the problem,” Koepka said. “I think it’s weird how we have rules where we have to make sure it’s dropping from knee height or your caddie can’t be behind you and then they also have a rule where you have to hit it in 40 seconds, but that one’s not enforced. You enforce some but you don’t enforce the others. To me, it makes no sense. If you’re going to do it, just penalize the guy if they’re going to take that long.
Koepka Rips Sergio For Saudi Antics
“I was explaining to someone the other day, if we get put on the clock, it’s because we’re slow. So obviously, we’ve broken the rules. Occasionally, there’s that one or two instances where I might be making a double, but the other guy, we had to look for his ball and it’s just taking a little bit of time. But usually, if you’re put on the clock, it’s because your slow.
“Guys keep getting put on the clock, keep doing it, keep doing it and they’re breaking the rules, but no one ever has the balls to actually penalize them.”
While Koepka put some more cachet behind an already-touchy subject, the way he combats slow play within his own group perhaps was the most eye-opening part of the interview.
“I kind of – this is probably bad to say – but I’ve kind of got a different approach. I try to actually slow us down, which is part of the problem,” Koepka said. “Some of these guys are so slow, I’ll take my sweet time getting to the ball. If I don’t have to go to the bathroom, I just go to the restroom and just kind of chill in there for five minutes, so we get on the clock, and now we’re playing at my pace.
“It’s probably not the right thing, but it is what I do. If this happens for two holes — we play slow for two holes — the other 16 holes, we get to play at my pace.”
