Brooks Koepka Is Still Pondering What Went Wrong Sunday at the Masters
After finishing tied for second at the Masters 10 days ago, Brooks Koepka said it might take a little time to figure out what went wrong during the final round and to shake off the disappointment of finishing second to Jon Rahm.
Koepka, who held a two-shot third-round lead at Augusta National but finished four shots back of Rahm after a final-round 75, spoke for the first time publicly on Wednesday since the Masters during a news conference in Australia in advance of the LIV Golf League event in Adelaide.
"You kind of take some time to digest it all," Koepka said at the Grange, the site of the tournament that begins Friday. "Did a good of that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and just kind of relaxed and tried to think about why it happened, why I played bad on Sunday, or Saturday-Sunday.
"I’m always pretty honest with myself, and normally it goes on what I was thinking what I was doing. It was nice to get to the bottom of it.
"Look, you tell anybody you’re going to finish second in a major, especially where I was six months ago, a year ago, I’m not sure there, so I would have taken that, so it’s tough to really argue with it.
"Then reality, expectations and all that stuff gets thrown in there. But it was a good, solid week and I can’t really complain. Gave myself a chance to win, and that’s all you can ask for every time you tee it up."
Koepka is the only player who has won twice during LIV’s 11 events played so far, capturing last year’s tournament in Jeddah and the event three weeks ago in Orlando, preceding the Masters.
He spoke at Augusta National of how numerous injury issues had him concerned about his future, but showed his major prowess with a 65-67 start at the Masters. He led Rahm by four strokes during the third round but struggled in the cold, rainy conditions that saw it suspended until Sunday morning.
At one point, Koepka went 22 consecutive holes without a birdie, a streak that lasted until the 13th hole of the final round. By then Rahm had moved past him, charging to his second major title. Koepka has won four majors and was seeking his first since the 2019 PGA Championship.
Koepka and the other LIV golfers are expected to play before big crowds in Australia, where LIV Golf has reported more than 70,000 tickets have been sold. LIV heads to Singapore next week and then will play another tournament in Tulsa, Okla., prior to the PGA Championship.
With Koepka tying with Phil Mickelson for second place and Patrick Reed giving LIV golfers three players in the top five finishers, Koepka said the league gained some credibility while also seeing golf rise above the LIV Golf-PGA Tour skirmish.
“I think it was the best thing for the fans to see what happened at the Masters,’’ Koepka said. “We kind of experience it all behind closed doors, and I know when I’m home (in South Florida), when DJ (Dustin Johnson) and I are home, we see Rory (McIlroy) there ... Keegan (Bradley), Matt Fitzpatrick, Patrick Cantlay lives on the same street; (Rickie) Fowler does as well. I could run into 15 (PGA) Tour guys if I wanted to in a day, and nobody has really had any negative feedback, any negative thing to say. And that would be the time to say it.
"But I think it was just good for the fans to see that we still communicate, we still play together, we still practice together, do everything the exact same. We’re still the same people."