THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 12, 2022

Brooks Koepka

TPC Sawgrass

Quick Quotes

Q. Brooks, just how brutal was that out there?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Just a tough day. I think today everybody knew today was going to be extremely tough. You catch some gusts, and you play, I guess, the wrong shot, the wrong gust, and you make some numbers.

Q. How would you describe 17 today?

BROOKS KOEPKA: It's luck. Was it a 6-iron? The problem is the grandstands in the back, and you flight it low enough like Scottie did whenever the horn went off in the first round, the grandstands, the screen, everything in the back, you almost flight it too low and the wind doesn't touch it. So it's kind of -- it's a tough one.

Q. Were you going 7 to start with and then went with 8 after you saw his?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I hit 8. There's nothing you can do. We hit a gust. I don't think it was going harder for anybody else out here than when me, Scottie, and Xander played it. When we first teed off, that was my first shot of the day, and I thought it was blowing the hardest. Then it picked up again when we were on 16. I hit 8-iron, flew 205 yards on 16. On 17 hit it 105.

Q. Have you ever laughed as much as you did on that shot today than you have after any other shot in your career?

BROOKS KOEPKA: No, I've probably laughed at one before. There's nothing you can do. It's gust dependent, and it is what it is.

Q. The conditions are difficult, but was it borderline at all out there or just hard conditions?

BROOKS KOEPKA: No, it was just extremely hard. Yeah, I felt like I got some bad breaks along with not playing well. Kind of one of those things for me. It's just tough, man.

Q. How helpless of a feeling is that standing on that 17 tee knowing that it's almost impossible?

BROOKS KOEPKA: It's one of those things you just try to hit the right shot. It's like anything. You try to hit the right shot, and hopefully it doesn't gust up or doesn't die down the second you do it.

Q. Brooks, what's a scratch golfer shoot out there today?

BROOKS KOEPKA: A lot. A lot. I mean, the tees are back on 18 today, and I actually asked Rick if we could get there in two. So it shows you how long it was playing.

Q. Is 17 -- on a day like today, there's no bailout. Does that make the hole not good because when the conditions are so severe, there's no chance?

BROOKS KOEPKA: You're talking about an extreme day today. If we were playing links golf, you could run everything up and keep it on the ground, just kind of chip, bunt, run everything, and you'd be all right. Today it's obviously -- it's not meant to blow this hard normally. It's just one of those days.