After claiming a fifth Major championship at Oak Hill, you could be forgiven for saying that Brooks Koepka wouldn't be on top form at LIV Golf DC, especially given that he was spotted multiple times, in the build-up to the tournament, at various sports events.
On the completion of his day, the American fired a level-par round of 72, with it then revealed that Koepka had damaged his driver during his front nine. From there, the 33-year-old was allowed to use a fresh driver for his back nine.
"Yeah. I warmed up with it on the range, and then the hole I hit it on out here, it cracked. Thank God it cracked now instead of coming down the stretch last week," joked Koepka, who actually rang a member of his team on the sixth hole to get the new club delivered.
When the new club arrived though, a rules official informed the recent PGA Championship winner that he would not be able to swap drivers as the damage was not severe enough.
"I guess the rule is it's got to be significantly damaged or something -- I'm not sure what the wording is, but the crack was, I don't know, not big enough or not damaged enough, and then the toe started to kind of cave in on the end. Once they saw the toe -- I kept calling them in every hole because the crack was getting worse, and the toe you could tell it was doing that. It happens. I've used it long enough, especially if you're going to hit it at those ball speeds."
Koepka went on to add that: "It just feels like you're hitting a marshmallow, honestly. It's a weird feeling. It feels like you hit it off the bottom back of the club. Like I said, I don't know what -- beyond damage or whatever wording they used, it's just weird. I don't know, I think golf is a little bit behind the times in ruling.
"If it's cracked, just replace it. If you damage it yourself, I get it, anger or anything like that. But I don't know, I just think -- it's weird. We know it's broken. Everybody agreed on that. That's just the rule. I don't know, it's part of golf, I guess."
Along with the damage to his driver, Koepka was also asked about his recent Major victory, and how many he believes he can secure in his career. Obviously, the American was confident with his answer, as he stated: "I've always said double digits. I think I've said that a few times. But yeah, I don't think it's unreasonable. The last few years -- it was just kind of like last year, I felt absent from the Majors, but even in '20 right after my surgery or '21, I was still contending. I don't see any reason why I can't. Your prime in golf is probably 30 to 40, so I've got another few good years in me."
