LIV GOLF INVITATIONAL SERIES: CHICAGO

September 17, 2022

Brooks Koepka

Peter Uihlein

Rich Harvest Farms

Press Conference

.

Q. You played here 18 years ago; you called on a lot of that knowledge, didn't you?

PETER UIHLEIN: From 18 years ago? Yeah, I'll tell you what, it's a lot wider than I remember. There used to be a lot of trees out there. It was pretty nasty. It's a little bit more generous off the tee than what I remember. There used to be an astroturf tee on one of those holes. I think we're playing it the 4th hole, but I think that hole used to have an astroturf tee. But now I guess they've removed some trees so grass can actually grow.

Q. Brooks, you guys are tied for second right now from a team standpoint. You must be pretty pleased what's going on?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I didn't do anything, so yeah, he played good today, Jason obviously played well. I think 4-under. So yeah, so it's nice to be actually competing and have a chance to win the team thing. Kind of ham and egged it, I guess, the last two days.

Yeah, go play good tomorrow and see what happens.

Q. Peter, what was the key to the hot start on your first nine holes?

PETER UIHLEIN: I started with a bogey on my second hole. No, I don't know. I kind of missed some shorties for birdie, made a bad bogey, and just kind of made a nice par putt on 7, believe it or not, from about seven feet, and that kind of just righted the ship a little bit.

After that, played great. Played really steady, really solid, hit some fairways, hit some greens. Just kind of took what the course gave me. I made a bomb on 13, so I kind of stole one there, but it was a solid, steady day, so it was nice?

Q. For both of you, can you talk a little bit about the conditions? It seemed a lot more windy today than it had all week long.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, you were outside, weren't you? Today was definitely -- yesterday it got up for a little bit. Maybe probably about an hour, hour and a half I felt like it was blowing pretty good.

Today it was definitely more constantly down there for about a good 30 minutes and kind of picked back up. It wasn't what it was early in the round. But it's going to be difficult if you're going to play in those conditions anywhere?

Q. There has been a bunch of trees removed. Do you remember the Sam Snead Memorial tree that was in the middle of the fairway on the one hole that's not there anymore, kind of the dogleg left?

PETER UIHLEIN: I do remember a lot more trees in the middle of fairways, so I feel like they've either removed some or they've lost some, but I remember there being more trees in fairways than there are currently. Obviously a lot of time has passed, so I'm sure they've made some changes. But the course remains the same, so it's good.

Q. The LIV setups so far haven't been extremely gettable. How does it match up with both of your expectations coming into LIV and how it's played out through almost five events now?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, you're playing big boy golf courses, so you know it's going to be tough. I like it better. It's definitely better setups. We're used to Slugger setting up golf courses for years and years and years. I mean, no complaints here.

Q. How about you?

PETER UIHLEIN: I had some complaints in Boston, but that was just me.

No, I mean, listen, you want to have championship golf really. I want to have championship tests. You don't really kind of want to have these 25 under par shootouts. Good, tough courses is kind of what we enjoy playing, so it's good.

Q. Brooks, what's your biggest takeaways since joining LIV Golf, and how would you compare the atmosphere with the fans and just all the amenities that the fans have here compared to the PGA TOUR? What would you say to the people that say LIV is dividing the game?

BROOKS KOEPKA: It's pretty energized. I mean, it's golf but louder, right?

Q. For sure.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, the fans have been great. Everybody that's come out has been awesome. It's been enjoyable for us. I think the players, the caddies, just how well the caddies are treated, as well. I think that's a big difference. They're treated like human beings. I think everybody, through coaches, staff, everybody, it's a big difference.

Q. Peter, Zach has a lot of experience out here; how much did you lean on him today?

PETER UIHLEIN: Yeah, he's been great. Yeah, he obviously played -- he was telling me how many times he played out here when he was in college and growing up. Yeah, he's been awesome, and great to have on the bag. He's got a Cubs yardage book, and a lot of guys keep screaming "go Cubs" out there for him, so he's got a lot more support than I do, I think.

He's been great, and it's been fun.

Q. Brooks, I've been asking all the players just really quickly how many hole-in-ones they've had in their lifetime, and I asked Peter, and then the follow-up is what's the one that gives you the most juice? What's the one that comes back to mind? What was the story in Europe where he jarred one --

BROOKS KOEPKA: I don't want to talk about it. He got into my wallet pretty good.

Yeah, I mean, when you're playing a game and you do it -- we used to play all the time. I mean, at least one or two practice rounds a week for probably about two, maybe three years.

PETER UIHLEIN: Yeah, almost three.

BROOKS KOEPKA: We played a lot of golf together, but yeah, he definitely got in my pocket a little bit on that one.

Q. Of all the ones he's made, I think he said seven or eight, and he said, that's the one I think about.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah.

Q. What's it like having him as a teammate now?

BROOKS KOEPKA: It's great. I've known Pete since I've probably been 15, 16, something like that. It's nice to have him on the team. My brother has known him for years. Jason, I don't know how long, probably since he's been on Tour. But it's good. We all get along off the golf course and on the golf course. It's enjoyable to go play practice rounds with. We kind of hit it about the same distance, so it's nice to see another ball flight kind of do the same thing. If you miss it, you kind of check to see if it's okay. Me, Kokrak and Pete kind of hit it about the same, so it's great playing practice rounds together.