WM PHOENIX OPEN

February 10, 2022

Brooks Koepka

TPC Scottsdale

Quick Quotes

Q. What were you most pleased with today?

BROOKS KOEPKA: The driver. Made some tweaks with the driver. It's one thing to do it at home back at Medalist and see it perform there, but to actually come out and drive the ball in a tournament and hit it how I wanted to, spin was great, flight was good, shape was great. So that was nice to see.

I feel like I've been playing good, it's just been the driver and just tweaks in the setup and it's tough to play out of the rough at Torrey Pines. But, yeah, everything seems to be clicking and a lot earlier than what it's normally been for me.

Q. Something about this course specifically, the layout of it or is it just the vibes here that seem to bring the best out of you?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Listen, I've been playing good for awhile, so I think everybody on my team expected this. But, yeah, I mean, I do like the golf course. I mean, two wins here it would be tough to say you don't like it.

Q. If your driver's working well here of all places that kind of sets things up well for the rest of the week, weekend?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, like I said in my press conference, I think you see a lot of guys that bomb it that play well here, a lot of guys that fade it, Martin Laird is an example, he always seems to play well here. Hideki plays well here. Guys that you can, if you can carry it 295, maybe 300 off the tee you can carry a few things that other guys can't and it can really shorten some holes and really help in the shortening them. You're not kind of playing the angles, because there seems to be bunkers there you can kind of carry them and miss the bunkers or in the rough.

Q. The birdie on 9 there at the end. What did that mean to send you heading off into the night with that?

BROOKS KOEPKA: It felt good. It felt good to hit a good drive. I think I had 115, which is a good number for us and finish it off with a nice putt. Did everything pretty solid today. I was very pleased, rolled the putter great, I think I missed one, I don't know how many greens, but I think one, but chipped it solid, the one chip I did have, that I can remember. The game's coming into form. So I'm very pleased.

Q. Do you feel like, do you happen to know what you're ranked in the world these days?

BROOKS KOEPKA: 18, 19, somewhere. It's right, 18, 19, 20. Somewhere right in there. What is it, I don't know.

Q. I think it's 20 this week. Do you feel like there are that many people better than you right now?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, that's embarrassing to be 20th, I feel like. A lot of it has to do with injury, man. I've been hurt, on the sidelines, not playing, playing through injury, you can't compete with guys out here. It's nice to be somewhat healthy and get out here and I mean I'm not too worried about it, it will bounce back up.

Q. Between on a scale of 1 to 10, how healthy are you?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Pretty damn healthy.

Q. 11?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah. I wish, man. You're never a hundred percent. No athlete's ever a hundred percent. But like I said, if you're not healthy, man, it's not easy. But at the same time I mean there's nobody out here that's shooting to be No. 2 in the world. So if you are, you're probably playing the wrong -- shouldn't be playing. So 19 spots to go.

Q. You mentioned rehabbing with Joe Burrow yesterday. What did you learn from being around him?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I didn't spend too much time with him, but he was in there with Heather, he had just had surgery I think two or three months before this or something like that. And from what they were telling me, from what I could witness from being doing my own thing at the same time and he's doing his thing, he's a hard worker. Like I said, the guy's a winner, so he'll figure it out.

Q. It's been a long time since you played at this course with a full crowd of fans, how's the energy out there?

BROOKS KOEPKA: It's good. I always love the fans here. It's definitely -- I like playing in front of a lot of people, they cheer you when you hit a good one and boo you when you hit a bad one, which is what you deserve.

Q. Does it take a certain kind of player to have success here, a guy that kind of likes to show off in front of the people with everybody out here watching you?

BROOKS KOEPKA: To be honest with you I think every TOUR player likes to show off. I mean, that's why you play on the big stage, right? You want to show off.

Q. Do you feel like you need a little swagger out here does that help?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I don't know if it helps, hurts, does whatever. Any time you got swagger and you're not playing well it's always going to be a little bit worse for you and if you're playing well it's going to be a little bit better. So it's kind of a mixture of both, I would guess.