Fox Sports play-by-play man Joe Buck and World No. 1 Brooks Koepka have both come a long way in the game of golf since Koepka won his first U.S. Open in 2017.
Fox and Buck, in just their second year of a 12-year contract with the USGA, were still learning the ropes when Koepka put the finishing touches on his maiden major championship victory at Erin Hills. In the immediate aftermath of Koepka’s victory, the champ found his significant other, actress and model Jena Sims, for a congratulatory kiss.
Meet Brooks Koepka’s Girlfriend, Jena Sims
Buck, having been fed some incorrect information by one of his producers, incorrectly identified Sims as Koepka’s ex-girlfriend, soccer player Becky Edwards. He was corrected by one of the color commentators, Brad Faxon.
Fox’s golf coverage, in a nutshell pic.twitter.com/EaBRN1v0ZK
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) June 19, 2017
The misidentification, which truly had nothing to do with the impressive golf nor the coverage of it, became one of the main talking points when it came to the Fox coverage of USGA events in years to come. However, the main characters in the story have since moved on.
At last year’s PGA Championship, again eventually won by Koepka, Buck and Sims met and made up.
At the PGA Championship at Bellerive in stl and LOOK who I finally met…. wait..umm..I got this…hold on..@jenamsims ! Could not be sweeter or a better sport. Best of luck this week to the Koepka TEAM! pic.twitter.com/522o833FQI
— Joe Buck (@Buck) August 8, 2018
Fast-forward to this week at the U.S. Open where Koepka is going for a three-peat and Buck will once again be on the call. While it’s been Koepka’s camp who have been on the receiving end of the misidentification, Koepka took an opportunity on the range on Monday to get a little light-hearted revenge on Buck.
Big week for FOX Sports and always good to see old friends at a US Open… Payback is a… @BKoepka @FOXSports @usopengolf pic.twitter.com/12kpWnlc1p
— Joe Buck (@Buck) June 10, 2019
“My good buddy, Jim, yeah!” Koepka says as he appears in the frame, misidentifying Buck as CBS play-by-play man Jim Nantz. “Keep it up, yeah? You’re doing great with (Tony) Romo.”
Pretty solid delivery from Koepka there. Maybe he’s been taking some acting lessons from his girlfriend Edwards Sims.