Brooks Koepka has admitted that his decision to sign for LIV Golf may have been different had he been as fit as he is today.
The American won four Majors in less than two years between 2017 and 2019 before his momentum was derailed by a series of injuries. His luck got even worse in the spring of 2021 when he slipped at home and shattered his knee, and he’s only just returned to full health.
That has been evident in Koepka's performance in this week’s Masters so far, where his opening two rounds saw him in great shape to claim his first Green Jacket at 12-under.
Following his second round, Koepka spoke to the media, where he was asked if the decision to sign for LIV would have been more challenging if he was as healthy as he is today. The 32-year-old was honest in his answer. He said: “Honestly, yeah, probably, if I'm being completely honest. I think it would have been. “
Koepka caveated the comment saying: “I'm happy with the decision I made,” but it does suggests his choice to make the move came with plenty of deliberation. In February, it was reported that Koepka may have been having buyer’s remorse over the move. However, he refuted that claim in an interview with Sports Illustrated last month, saying: “I knew everything I was getting into”.
Nevertheless, after his second round at Augusta National, Koepka also admitted that he missed playing against the likes Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. He said: “I think it's all just competing. I see those guys down at The Grove all the time. I see the guys at Medalist. I see guys just out and about practicing. I think there's probably about, what, six of us that live probably within a quarter mile of each other.
"So we end up running into each other a good bit. But it's just competitively where you miss playing against them, right? Because you want Rory to play his best and Scottie to play his best and Jon to play his best and go toe-to-toe with them. I do miss that, and that's one thing that I do miss, and that's what I think makes these Majors so cool. “
In the end, though, Koepka was philosophical about the fact that there aren’t many opportunities to do that given the suspension of LIV Golf players from the PGA Tour. He said: “It is what it is. It's the situation we've got right now, so I can't do anything about it. I just go play.”
