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THE HONDA CLASSIC

February 27, 2019

Brooks Koepka

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

THE MODERATOR: Let's get some comments about your opinions on the course.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, this golf course is obviously a lot better than years past with redoing the greens, so I'm excited to see how they turn out. Yeah, definitely firmer. They definitely roll a lot better. It should be a good week.

Q. Being a Florida guy, having the Florida Swing, how much of a transition is it from the West Coast to here?
BROOKS KOEPKA: That's why I don't play the West Coast. I enjoy it here. I enjoy it in Florida. It's a lot more comfortable on the greens this first couple starts of the year. The greens are a bit interesting in Hawai'i. I struggle on poa. Especially fast, slopey poa like last week, I don't play my best, but it'll be nice to get on some Bermuda and really roll the rock.

Q. Do you like the four in a row with the new schedule?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I do. I think it sets up really nice, nice for me, because I don't play the West Coast, so I've got to start somewhere. I've got to start playing more, and you know, this is a good stretch for it.

Q. Do you think it'll take a little bit of time for guys to figure out how to work this tournament into their schedule?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I don't think so. I think -- in fairness, I think it might take some more hits in the next few years, especially with what they're doing at Riv, making that -- upping in the purse there, basically making it an invitational. Somewhere has got to take a hit. Guys aren't going to play five in a row. It depends on what you want to do, where you're at and what golf courses you really like. It's either -- most guys are going to play the WGC and THE PLAYERS, so you figure Bay Hill and the other invitationals they're going to play. So somewhere along the line is going to take a hit.

Q. Can you address what it was like last year missing your hometown event?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, I was just disappointed to be out. It didn't matter what tournament I was playing. This tournament, I haven't had the best memories here. You know, I was going through a bunch of stuff off the golf course two years ago, and then last year not being able to play, so I've tried to put that all in the past and tried to move on and really -- I like this golf course, so I mean, I think it suits me really well, especially with the firm greens now, I think I've got a good chance. I think it's going to be a lot firmer, which I like, firm greens. And it's always nice to play in front of your friends, family and everybody out here.

Q. You've accomplished so much since you last played here, but can you think back to your mindset back then?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, I always had the confidence. I wasn't lacking that. I feel like I'm borderline cocky when it comes to that, but everybody out here should expect to win. Everybody out here is borderline confident to cocky. Every time you win you're going to build confidence, and if you're on a nice little run like I was, you're going to have a lot of it, and I feel like I'm still riding on high on that, and I've just been waiting for this Florida Swing for a while.

Q. Does it feel special being the No. 2 player in the world in your hometown? Does it feel different?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No, not really. It's still -- it's probably one of the more difficult weeks being an actual home week, for a bunch of the guys who live here, it's a lot different. We've got our routines on the road and you're kind of throw off that for this week, and it all kind of -- there's a lot more people hitting you up, family, friends wanting certain things, and people coming into town, hey, let's hang out, and hey, I've got my routine. This week it is difficult, but I really enjoy it, playing in front of everyone.

Q. What were you doing a year ago this week?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I was sitting on the couch probably eating a bunch of food. I wasn't doing a whole lot. I gained, I think, 15, 20 pounds. I was obviously upset. I just missed competition. It wasn't fun for me sitting on the couch. I mean, I didn't watch any golf until Augusta, so I didn't know what was going on. Yeah, you miss -- you make a lot of friendships, seeing a bunch of people out here, and you just don't have that. You're forgotten very quickly. That's what it taught me.

Q. How long did it take you when you got back out hitting the ball, how long was it before you felt like you were all the way back?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Two days. I hit balls for two days -- yeah, when I hit balls for the first time, it took me two days, and I was like, we'll play next week. It's pretty easy. I mean, I've been doing this for 20-some years now. I'm not going to lose my swing just because I didn't play for four months. It doesn't matter if I take a week off, two weeks off. I sill have feel. I've been doing it that long. I know what I'm doing.

Q. Last year after winning two majors, talk about the mindset now for tournaments that aren't majors. How big is winning this year, and did you find you had a different mindset in tournaments that weren't majors?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I definitely have a different mindset. I mean, I'm able to get over things a lot quicker in majors. I think sometimes I expect too much out of myself in a regular TOUR event. I know I should win it and I don't give myself the opportunity to do it. A little lack of focus, trying too hard. But at the end of the day, that's my primary focus is on majors, as is everyone else out here. You're remembered by how many majors you've won, not by how many tournaments you've won.

Q. Is it a little bit tougher because you've won big tournaments?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, any time you win a tournament you're as happy as can be. I'm happy to win any tournament, doesn't matter what it is, and to go over there and play as well as I did, I was excited, especially following it up with the last -- the 14, 16 months prior to that. I needed to back it up and keep winning, and I felt like doing that was -- I was kind of on my way.

Q. What's the tournament you didn't win that you were most upset about?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Dallas. Lost in a playoff, yeah. I felt like I choked that one, and then probably one that I didn't deserve to win, but I had the lead in my first PGA TOUR event with nine holes to go at Fry's. Blew that one. But that one probably taught me -- that's probably why I won three majors, because I lost that lead. I started thinking about winning, and I learned you can't do that.

Q. You made some news with your opinions in interviews. I'm curious what your reaction when you read, this is a more open Brooks Koepka?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, you're actually probably getting the real me now. I think before I was just trying to be politically correct and not stir any bubbles and just kind of go on with things and be unnoticed, and to be honest with you, I feel like now where I've put myself in the game, I've kind of established myself, and I feel like I actually do have a voice, and it will be heard, and I can do that now, where you've only won once on the PGA TOUR, you can't really say the things you want to say. You haven't established yourself, you haven't put yourself out there.

But there's a lot of things I've got opinions on, I'm going to say it now. I'm not going to hold anything back. There's a lot of good things, and there's some things that need to be changed.

Q. Talk about some of the challenges the course presents, especially the Bear Trap with some of the changes at 17?
BROOKS KOEPKA: 17, they just made it easier. It's shorter. You know, this golf course is -- it's going to be difficult in the afternoon. You know the wind is going to blow. That's Florida. Once it hits noon, it's going to blow 20, 25 miles an hour anytime you're out there. And when you're on those few holes, it always seems to swirl a little bit, and you're always checking it and double-checking it. It just makes it very difficult. The afternoon tee times are definitely a lot tougher. In the morning if you can squeak through it, you can definitely shoot under par, but getting those afternoons when it's blowing is tough.

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