LIV star Brooks Koepka grabbed a share of the first round lead at the Masters - and then claimed winning will be the best way to guarantee he will always play at Augusta.
And the former world No.1 claimed the limited LIV schedule has helped him recover from knee surgery. The former world No.1 is currently exempt from Majors until next year after winning four titles in 2018 and 2019.
But after two years dogged by injuries and then joining the Saudi-backed breakaway tour, his ranking has slipped down to world No.118. LIV players are banned from the PGA Tour but can still play in Majors.
Koepka shot an opening 65 for his best ever score at the Masters to join Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland on seven-under par. But, when asked if he felt extra pressure to perform to earn an invite back to the Majors, he insisted: “I don't really think about it. It's just a major. It's Augusta National. So, you know, it's the Masters. You'd better show up. I kind of just count out the last two years, not feeling good. But yeah, if you win, you're fine.”
Koepka added LIV’s “limited schedule” had “definitely helped” his recovery from a shattered knee and torn knee ligaments. “I wouldn't say probably until maybe end of December when I was like, okay, everything is starting to click now, being able to bend my knee fully,” he said.
“I don't think I've rediscovered anything. I just think I'm healthy, so I can move the way I want to. If your body won't allow you to do the things you want to do, it's frustrating and all of a sudden you create a lot of bad habits and then try to work out of the unhealthiness, takes a while, and then all of a sudden you have to get out of those bad habits. When you break three, it's kind of nice.”
Before joining LIV Golf last summer, he told the Netflix Full Swing documentary: “I can’t compete with these guys week in and week out.”
But Koepka, who won LIV Golf Orlando on Sunday, said: "I don't think it misrepresented. I just don't think it showed the whole thing.
“It's not just frustrations from the golf. It's frustrations from my body, just frustration with not being able to move how I want to move.
Getting out of bed takes 15 minutes just to even kind of feel right. I wouldn't even say feel right.
"Just feeling like you can't get around for the day isn't exactly fun. It's probably the closest I can be to Tiger without his leg. I'm not saying it's anywhere near his, but I understand how painful it is and just how mentally gruelling it is.”
Asked what now motivated him, Koepka said: "Honestly, I just think of all those hard times. I think of the lady, Heather, that was doing my rehab; just to play Augusta in '21.
"(Caddie) Ricky (Elliott) was with me, I just remember biting down on a towel and tears were coming out of my eyes and she was trying to bend the knee. I figure if I can go through that, I can go through anything.”
Former champions Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed both shot 71s while Sergio Garcia carded a 74. There are now 17 LIV players left in the field after Kevin Na pulled out after nine holes because of “illness”.
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