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ABU DHABI HSBC CHAMPIONSHIP

January 14, 2019

Brooks Koepka

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

NEIL AHERN: Brooks, welcome to the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Have you written that children's book yet, Henrik has asked me to ask.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Can he read his own? That's the question.

NEIL AHERN: It's your first time here since 2014. Nice to back here in the desert, Rolex Series Event.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, it's obviously nice to be back. I enjoy playing this golf course. It's a fun place to be, a fun place to come back and kind of -- feels like I'm re-living those memories when I was on The European Tour and Challenge Tour being over here. It's always nice to bring those back.

NEIL AHERN: Is it nice to come back and see those familiar faces when you come back to these European Tour events?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, it is. There's a lot of guys you don't get to see very often, and you made some great friendships over here when I was playing, and not getting to see them all the time isn't always fun. But when you come back and see everybody, it makes it feel a little bit more special.

NEIL AHERN: Do you get treated a little differently after all the achievements you've had in the last couple of years?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I hope not. I'm still the same me. I don't know, if people are afraid to come up and say hi, they shouldn't be, but I'm the same me that I was from the beginning.

NEIL AHERN: A battle up there at the top of the Official World Golf Rankings between yourself and Justin. Is that something in your mind when you come to these events, or something that you've tried to clear from your mind?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I'm thinking about it. It's always nice to be the best in the world at something.

You know, you try to play your best and be on top, but there's no extra added pressure or anything like that. It's all, if I do what I'm supposed to do, I'll be just fine and get backup up on the top.

Q. After two majors last year, it's a hard act to follow. When you start out at the beginning much the year, do you set goals, specific goals, especially after such a successful year last year?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I always set goals every year. I think that's a big part of it and obviously this year, No. 1 was pretty clear, stay healthy. I think that was a pretty obvious one.

But yeah, wrote a bunch of different goals down. I think I did about half of them last year. Just trying to improve on that and make sure I can knock a few more off that list.

Q. There's the opinion that you don't really get the credit for what you achieved last year. Do you get to the end of the year and think that maybe you observed more plaudits than you maybe get?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I think that kind of took on a life of its own. I don't think I was -- I was upset for one week on something, and I think people kind of blew it out of proportion and made this whole thing against me against the media; me saying I don't get enough attention. I think it just blew up a little bit more than probably what I intended for it to do.

I think my only thing that I was just saying was, you know, if it had been a couple other people, I think it would have been a bit different. I mean, Jordan did the same thing, and you know, obviously with Tiger coming back, it's a little different. And just having a few other people, if they would have done it, I felt like it would have been a little bit different.

You know, I was mad for, all of five minutes probably when I said that, and it just took on a life of its own. I'm not upset. I'm still trying to do my personal goals. You know, I mean, I can tell there's a difference; I'll put it that way.

Q. Can you tell us which goals you didn't reach?
BROOKS KOEPKA: To make sure I make all the cuts. I missed a cut, I think one cut in about a year and a half. Didn't finish Top-10 half the time. Wasn't healthy; that's a big one. And then, you know, obviously win a major and win multiple times on Tour, I knocked those off.

Little things like that. Going to bed, ten o'clock at night every night on the road. Working out five days a week on the road, minimum.

So I mean, little things like that. It's not always on the golf course. I've got to kind of separate it. You know, goals on the road and then the golf goals, and then goals at home, little things like that. So I kind of separate them all into different categories and go from there.

Q. Has the aim to stay healthy affected your work outs?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No. I'm healthy now. I'm 100 per cent. I've been 100 per cent since that injury. I don't think -- I'm hoping this will be --

Q. Do you work out as hard?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, if not harder. I mean, I'm healthy. There's no reason I can't push it and try to see how far I can go and make sure I'm strong enough, fit enough to do it.

I mean, I know a bunch of people say the stronger you are, it's not good for your golf game but you lose flexibility. I mean, the guys that do -- gymnasts, Cirque du Soleil, they are pound-for-pound the strongest people in the world and they are the most flexible. So I don't see the issue with the gym.

Q. What's some of your favourite European Tour memories or Challenge Tour memories? Is there a particular night out or anything that you remember?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, a lot of them are off the golf course. I think a lot of them are just from travelling week-to-week. The camaraderie over here is a bit different. I like it more, personally, than I do in the States. It seems there's 30 or 40 guys on a flight, basically the whole flight is everybody, you know, players, caddies, things like that.

Everyone kind of hangs out in two or three hotels and everybody seems to -- you go to dinner, you have a hard time over here running into one player because there's 30 or 40 of them or caddies or coaches, whatever it might be, all at the same restaurant and I think that's kind of fun. Everyone's always laughing, joking. The attitude over here is a little different. The sense of humour over here is a little better (smiling) so it's quite fun.

Q. Is there a city that you enjoyed a particular night out at?
BROOKS KOEPKA: My favourite places that I've been over here: Crans I think is probably one of the most beautiful places. Prague and Sweden are pretty nice, too (smiling).

Q. And just a general question about the rules. Your thoughts on those?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Which ones?

Q. The flagstick is the one that's getting the most attention.
BROOKS KOEPKA: It just feels weird when it's in. In Hawai'i, the first few rounds it was out and the last round I putted a lot with it in, just to kind of test it out. It feels weird from five feet. I don't know. I'm going to pull it out. I don't like it. I mean, I've gone my whole career with pulling the flag out and why are we going to switch it out now. I seem to have done all right with it out.

I'll pull it out, maybe there's one or two putts where I leave it in, maybe downhill sliders. You look at like a place like Augusta where you've got a real tricky putt where if you miss it you're probably going to run it three or four feet by and you can still be aggressive with the flag in, something like that.

Q. Henrik was asked a few months on from The Ryder Cup to give his thoughts on what happened that week. Can I ask you the same thing, from the American perspective; have you had a chance to reflect on what went wrong that week as a team?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I mean, everybody blows it up more than it really is. Somebody's got to win and someone's got to lose. You know, in golf, we're used to losing a lot. I think you've got to play better. It's simple. They just outplayed us. They putted better than us.

I mean, I thought it was pretty clear how much better they played than us, and there's nothing you can do when you run into -- if you play good and you just get beat, there's, you know, that happens. That happens in golf a lot.

I just think the Europeans, they knew the golf course a little bit better than us. I don't think that played that much of an advantage of what people thought.

The fairways, they made a big deal about the fairways being tight and the rough being -- I mean, we can all hit 3-iron off the tee and be the same thing. It just comes down to execution and we just didn't execute. It's simple. I don't think there's anything to look into that.

I mean, I still had a great time. I still think it's one of the funnest events to play in. I can't wait for it come around here in, what, a year and a half.

Q. Just the way you talked about The European Tour, I was thinking with the invitations you were getting, will you be a member?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No. I won't. I mean, it's obviously very tough, especially with the schedule now, being so compact and I like my time off. I think at the end of the year, you need a break. It's very hard to play both of them. I learned that my first year.

I don't feel like I can play my best all year long coming over here and going back to the PGA TOUR and kind of flip -- flip-flopping on both. It's a lot of travel, a lot of hours. I don't know a sport where there's more hours travelling time zones, things like that. You end up kind of getting lost a little bit and don't really know where you're at sometimes. It's very difficult.

But you know, I try to come over here as much as I can, and I enjoy playing over here. It's fun. The golf courses, some of them, like this place, I think suits me really well. I feel like this is kind of like a major championship golf course, the way it's set up, which will be fun.

And then, you know, at the end of the year, try to take some time off. That's kind of my me time to relax and do things that I couldn't for the rest of the year.

Q. One of your records, at least on the PGA TOUR that everyone talks about, is the fact that you've won three majors and less number of Tour events. What are your thoughts on that, and why is that kind of a record? I'm sure you're very proud of that, but why is it that you're not winning as many Tour events as you are winning majors?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, that just comes down to I finished second quite a lot, but no one remembers who finished second. It's as simple as I've lost in a playoff; I've gotten -- I feel like I've put myself in some good spots. Kind of gotten unlucky a little bit I think. Guys have fired some numbers at me on Sunday. Lost in a playoff. Kevin Chappell played an unbelievable round in San Antonio to knock me out by one.

There's been quite a few second-place finishes. I think we've counted like seven. But then again, no one remembers second place, so, I mean, I give it my all. I know that. Been disappointed in leaving with no win. I look at Colonial this year.

I played some unbelievable golf, and Rosey just played that much better. I mean, sometimes there's nothing you can do. You run into a buzzsaw.

You know, Sundays, I look at Korea, I mean, I was playing unbelievable, and Gary throws a number to make me look at something -- I feel like there's never been an easy win for me, put it that way. I feel like it's always -- there's always a bit of a challenge on Sunday for whatever reason, and I never get anything handed to me easy. But I mean, that's what makes golf so much fun.

Q. I also wanted to ask you, I think you really took it very well when you did that autorecture drive in India when you were part of The Challenge Tour. That would really frighten a lot of people, especially coming from the west. And you really enjoyed that, going around in the city. Do you take that attitude to everything that you have in life; that you're not afraid of things to take on and you just enjoy the ride?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I mean, I do enjoy the ride. I think that's a good way to put it. I don't take anything too seriously. I'm pretty relaxed. I know a lot of people -- you see me on the golf course, my personality, I'm pretty serious, I'm not smiling that much. But off the golf course, I'm completely different, laughing, joking, all the time, and trying to enjoy everything.

I think travelling is probably one of the coolest things I've done. I mean, you get up in college and you travel the world at 22, I mean, that's pretty sweet. These places that I had studied in school, places that I've always kind much wanted to go to, and travelling around is so much fun to me. I enjoy it. It's a new experience that I can check off the list.

I think that's what makes it so much fun in my career. I really enjoy that aspect of seeing different cultures, being a part of it. I even do it when I'm on vacation on a holiday. You know, if I'm not do anything, picking up rides. I remember in Thailand, just on the side of the street, my thumb up and just hopping a ride with some random guy on a scooter up the hill to wherever I needed to go. I mean, that's just me. It's fun. I enjoy that, and diving into the culture.

Q. Can you tell us what it's like to work with Pete Cowen and is his short game as good as what he makes out?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I think the first lesson I ever got from Pete kind of sums it up. I must have fight five, six shots out of the bunker and he told me how bad it was. And I just turned to him, "Well, then you do it."

So he gets in the bunker, first shot, holes it. I'm like, okay, is this gold guy really going to do this. Pops another ball down, holes the second one and just walked off, and said, if you can't do it, I'm done. I was like, okay. All right. (Laughter).

That's just Pete. Pete's personality, he's very blunt, very straightforward. I've really enjoyed it and he know what is to say at the right time. I think that's what's so good about a great coach. They knew when to test me.

Just go back to, I think it was Erin Hills when he told me I was never going to win a major. He knew exactly what to say at that point. You tell me I can't do something, I can't wait to prove it to you. I think he even does it now. He'll tell me certain things, I can't do this, can't do that. I enjoy a challenge.

NEIL AHERN: Brooks, thank you very much. Have a great week.

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