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HYUNDAI TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

January 9, 2016

Brooks Koepka

Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii

JOHN BUSH: We would like to welcome Brooks Koepka to the interview room. 10-under par today, 19-under for the tournament. What a round. If we can get some comments on your play.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, obviously it was really good.

(Laughter.) I know what it feels like to be Jordan Spieth now, I guess, shooting 10-under every round.

But I played really good. I felt like the way I drove the ball was really good, the iron play, I flagged it all day. It was just a stripe show. That's the only thing I can say.

I didn't miss a golf shot until 18. Which was kind of embarrassing because that was kind of funny. But I played really well, and I putted it nice. Speed was a little bit off yesterday, so just had to adjust to that, but I'm pretty pleased.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. If I had told you you would not birdie 9 or 18, would you think you would shoot 63?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Probably not.

(Laughter.) I was told that after the round and it was like 9 and 18, I never thought about it, but I guess it could have been 61? I felt like we still even left a few out there, even with those, without those holes. But it was -- we played really well. I was very pleased.

Just got to do it again tomorrow, I feel like, to keep up with Jordan because he'll probably be finished around -- did he birdie 17? No. Okay. So he'll probably be at 23. So we still got some work to do.

Q. So this was the windiest of the days so far. Did that help you some way? Sort of from the average onlooker would think that would be tougher.
BROOKS KOEPKA: Believe it or not with this knew Nike ball, this RZN Platinum that we're playing, it doesn't move in the wind. It's unbelievable. From the driver to the irons, the ball doesn't move in the wind. Crosswinds, it just doesn't move. And it's nice to see in high winds the ball do what it did today. Obviously it was tougher. I was controlling my flights and everything like that, but the way it was going was unbelievable.

Q. You touched on this just a bit, but what's it going to take tomorrow to run down Jordan?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I would say probably at least 65, I think is probably reasonable. He's playing good golf, you got to catch him. It's tough to say. I don't know if it's supposed to rain, wind, I haven't looked at the forecast, but if it's anything like today you're probably going to shoot at least 8-under, because you know he's probably going to shoot 5-under.

Q. Great round with being a rookie here. Tell me your impressions about the course and is it easy? You're a long hitter that's for sure, but you're really, you really went to town today on the wind?
BROOKS KOEPKA: This golf course sets up nice. I think you can see it from all the guys that have won. It favors long hitters. Especially -- it can play long, especially with the wind. You got quite a few holes into the breeze. They moved a few tees up for us, thankfully.

But it's all about putting here. The best putters are going to win. They're so grainy and it kind of like, it reminds me a little bit of Augusta on the greens. You can have six feet and it might break a foot, foot and a half. And it's all about speed on these greens. That's kind of what it reminds me of a little bit. Just a little bit slower.

Q. Speaking of that, the comparison with Augusta, I've actually heard that, with -- that it has with all the side hill lies, too --
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah.

Q. And the chipping is similar. Would you agree with that?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah. You're not going to find a slopier golf course than this. There's so many awkward little lies, ball above your feet, below your feet and then downhill and then you're hitting up the hill. Things like that you just don't find anywhere besides maybe here and Augusta or at least that I've played. So that's -- I think it's a fair comparison.

Q. Yesterday I think you said that the greens were running pretty slow or you needed to hit it harder and adjust your speed. Did you just get in extra practice or what did you do to figure that out?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, we went to the putting green after and just kind of worked on speed. Just hitting nothing but uphill putts and trying to really bank it in the back of the cup. That was the goal today, instead of seeing it dribble in and running three feet by. We haven't had a 3-footer this week because we have hit it too hard. So I just tried to jam it in the back of the cup and that was it.

Q. Which putter are you using? Have you switched to the Nike putter or are you still using Scotty?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No, I still got the Scotty.

Q. Who is in your crew this week? I saw someone that looks a lot like you, it must be your brother.
BROOKS KOEPKA: No.

Q. No, it's not? What have you done extracurricular ly this week?
BROOKS KOEPKA: We have kept it pretty chill this week. Haven't really done too much. But I got my girlfriend here and my best friend and his wife. And my manager, Blake, is here. So we have got a good crew. Everybody kind of had their families out and it's been a fun week. It's been relaxing week.

We went up to Honolulu last week and just kind of vacationed for three or four days. But it's just fun to come out here. It's a little bit more relaxed, there's only 30 guys, 32, I think, right?

Q. 32.
BROOKS KOEPKA: 32. So it's more relaxed. It's a cool atmosphere. Any time you get to play these events where it's only winners or 30 guys, it's special.

Q. Are you going to the Sony or no?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No. Taking time off. I'll be back for Waste Management. To defend that.

Q. Speaking of time off, for a guy whose played once since October, and this being the start of the year, how much of a help is it to be on a golf course that has such an open look to it, still got to hit your spots, but you're not dealing with tree-lined 20-yard fairways?
BROOKS KOEPKA: It's very nice. It's very nice just to be able to get up there and just rip it off the tee, knowing you got a hundred yards of fairway. 18, for example. Just hit it hard because it's going to be in the fairway. Just try to get it down there. That's nice.

The greens are so big, too. You still got a lot to play with. There's a lot of banks you can use, slopes. Things like that where you might get away with a bad shot, and it ends up right next to the hole. You just -- just wasn't supposed to be that way but it looks like it on TV.

Q. Was there any indication before today that a 63 was out there for you and when did it start to kind of feel like this could be a special round today?
BROOKS KOEPKA: It was actually quite funny. On the first tee my caddie, Ricky, he was like, you got to get stuck in today, this is going to be a hard day, it's blowing, tough pins, blah blah blah. And then that happens. So I don't really know. It was just one of those days. Everything was on and I'm pretty pleased with it.

At the start of the day if I would have said, no. I saw Jim walk was like 8-under on 10, I think, I looked over and but it was hard. I'm not going to lie.

Q. Do you realize at one point you, I think you were within one of the lead. Did you know that at that time?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I think we did, yeah. I think we got pretty close. But then Jordan figured it out and made a few more birdies.

Q. Did that even enter your mind before when you started the day seven back, right?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I think so. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. Seven back. At one point I think when we made the turn at 6 we were talking about we had to get to 20. That was the goal. Obviously would like to have birdied 18, but I felt like we played pretty solid golf and not much else can you ask for.

Q. What happened on -- walk us through your second shot at 18.
BROOKS KOEPKA: So, the ball's above your feet by a foot and you're on a severe downhill slope to start. Then you got the wind pumping off your left. It's not -- I struggle with that wind a bit. I do fade it. And I was a little bit worried that it was just going to come out so low and draw that the wind was never going to touch it and it wasn't going to get airborne. And so I tried to lift it a little bit and actually I just faded it. I was trying to draw it. I hit it right where I wanted to and trying to sling it left, but it just faded. I'm sure a bunch of people thought it was shanked, but it wasn't, it was just a really bad golf shot.

Q. Were you trying to sling it there?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, you're trying to bring it with the slope and try to kill it with the wind and bring it on down there, but it just faded. It just -- I just came out of the golf shot.

Q. Did you know you were close to the course record?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah. We had talked about it on the golf course, I think. We knew we were pretty close because my caddie said I had to get it, what 62 is the course record? So we were trying to get 61 but, oh well.

THE MODERATOR: Play well tomorrow. We appreciate your time.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Thanks.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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