LIV GOLF JEDDAH

October 14, 2023

Brooks Koepka

Smash GC

Royal Greens Golf & Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome Brooks Koepka, captain of Smash GC. You put on a master class today. You're the solo leader at 12-under par, shot 8-under today and had eight birdies. Tell us about your round.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Made eight birdies, 10 pars. Played pretty solid. Made a couple good putts early on, which obviously helps with momentum, and drove it pretty well other than 1, my last hole. Never really felt like I had a chance to make a bogey. Pretty pleased with it today.

Q. Some low scoring out there today. What's the game plan tomorrow to make it back-to-back wins at LIV Golf Jeddah?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Just got to go play a good round of golf. That's it. Just keep doing what I'm doing. Seems to be working since I'm at the top. Just go play good, see what happens tomorrow.

Q. Were there any similarities between today's round and the 62 you shot here last year?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I don't even remember the 62 I shot here last year. I couldn't even tell you. I don't know. Same score, so yeah.

Q. We talked about this a little bit yesterday, but obviously at the end of the day tomorrow you could be $8 million richer. Have you thought about that at all?

BROOKS KOEPKA: For what?

Q. If you win the tournament and finish third in the individual standings.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Like I said, I wish the majors counted. If it was like the FedExCup, it would have counted, so yeah, I think I'd be up top.

Q. Have you promised Chase a Lamborghini this year?

BROOKS KOEPKA: For what?

Q. You promised him last year for winning you had to buy him a Lamborghini.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, he got team money last year, so that was the difference. No, it doesn't go into my pocket now. He's doing just fine. He blew his back right tire out, so maybe he can buy a new tire. I know he got it fixed a couple weeks ago, so yeah, he's on his own now.

Q. I just wanted to ask you about your brother. It's a really uncommon situation. You're captain of the team; he's in the relegation spot. That's got to be tough for you as a brother. How do you differentiate being a brother and a captain?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, there's nothing I can do. At the end of the day, it's up to him.

I know he's working hard. I know he's been trying. We've been practicing together quite a bit. Honestly, he's struggling a little bit. I've been there. We've all been there. Every golfer has.

It's part of it. You look at it, he was playing mini-tour golf 16 months ago.

I don't think the last year and a half has been too bad for him.

Q. Not at all financially, no. So the follow-up is the Asian Tour has so much opportunity now. You're a product of the mini-tours. Do you think Ace Koepka can find his way there and come back here?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I don't know what he's going to do. You're going to have to ask him. It's completely up to him whether he wants to keep playing, go play Asian Tour, play if he can play or stop playing. I don't know. We haven't had that conversation. That's for him to decide. I'm not going to force him or encourage him to go one way or another. It's a big life choice, so I'll let him decide that.

Q. What would your message be to your team going into the final round?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Just play good. I don't know what everybody else shot. I haven't looked. I saw Kokrak was 5-under and the page didn't scroll long enough to see the rest of the two guys. I don't know where they're at.

Sometimes it pops up on the leaderboard where it's the four guys, but it didn't pop up the last nine holes, so I have no idea what the other guys shot. I just know that obviously it looks like somebody shot 3- or 4-under. I don't know who it was.

So just play good.