WEBVTT - Checking In on Brooks Koepka 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.800 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. When 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:04.920 I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:05.880 And when I find my. 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:08.920 Ball in a fried egg Friday egg, the dreaded Frida egg, 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:11.920 Frida Egg Egg Egg, Frida egg bride egg. 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:14.080 Lie, I'm about ready to run off of the course. 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:41.040 Welcome back to another edition of the Frida Egg Golf Podcast. 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:44.680 I am your host, Andy Johnson. Today I am excited. 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:50.480 I'm also apologetic. I had a computer issue and I'm 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:56.400 on a loaner computer and I cannot get my microphone 0:00:56.440 --> 0:00:59.920 interface to connect to this loaner, so you've got kind 0:00:59.920 --> 0:01:03.440 of of a headphone Mike audio. I'm apology. I get 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:06.440 the computer back tomorrow, so we'll be back up better 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:12.040 at audio quality tomorrow. Other while we're doing announcements next week, 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:15.119 the show's going to be released instead of first thing 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:19.000 Wednesday morning, mid day Wednesday, so that will be just 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:21.920 one little intricacy of next week. It's going to be 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:27.200 just a slightly later release. We're just accommodating, you know, 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:30.600 our guest who needs to record Wednesday morning, so we'll 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:35.960 be right after we finished recording Wednesday morning. And today 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:38.920 I am I'm very excited about this podcast. I think 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:40.840 it's just a fun one. I like checking in with 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:46.880 these players, big name players who you know might be at, 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:49.520 you know, a moment where you wonder, like where's this go. 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:51.400 And I think we've had a lot of moments with 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.880 brooks Keepka at this point, and you know, he didn't 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:58.960 have like a I would say it was like necessarily 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:02.360 under whelming year in the in the scope of things, 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:04.840 but it definitely was a year with high expectations that 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:07.880 weren't you know, delivered, And I think there's just a 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:11.200 lot of questions about, like, you know, where's he where's 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:14.639 he at? So I am joined by Brentley Roman from 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:18.640 Golf Channel, Joseph Lamonia from Friday Golf, and we dive 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:21.959 into brooks Kepka a little bit on the past, a 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:24.720 little bit on his up bringing. This was not meant 0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:29.000 to be like a full blown, like you know, detailed 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:32.400 dig into everything he's done, you know, because there's a 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:35.800 lot he's got five majors, a lot of close calls, 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:40.440 but more you know, here's where we've been, here's where 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:44.320 we are, and where do we think he's going in 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:49.040 twenty twenty four? Obviously Live season kicks off now and 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:53.240 we're getting you know, it's crazy to say this. I'm 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:55.400 always surprised this kind of at this time of year. 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:57.480 It's not we're not that far away from the Masters. 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:01.040 We're basically two months two months ay from the Masters. 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:03.919 It is going to be kind of the lead in there. 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:06.800 And as we've seen the last couple of years, the 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:11.360 pro golf calendar just goes so so quickly. Once you 0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:14.560 hit the Masters, it is just boom, boom boom, and 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:17.040 next thing you know, you're like, wait, we don't have 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:20.280 a Major for eight more months, what's going on? So 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:23.520 we're getting to that point where we got to start 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:27.760 to think about the Masters a little bit more, and 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:31.160 I think Rory's win a pebble last week is going 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:34.400 to spark that. So, all right, before we get to 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:39.520 our podcast, let's talk about our friends. These are definitely 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:44.080 our friends, our friends at golf Genius. We've used golf 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:49.240 Genius for the last handful of years to administer our events, 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:53.000 our Friday golf events, and let me tell you, like honestly, 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:57.000 when we started using them, it made our lives so much, 0:03:57.240 --> 0:04:00.960 so much easier to run events. This is what they do. 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:05.960 They provide tournament management software. It's a platform for managing 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:10.440 golf events in golf tournaments. They work in sixty plus 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:15.520 countries and at eleven thousand plus clubs, resorts, and public 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:21.159 golf courses. 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So 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:07.159 if your golf course doesn't have it, ask for it. 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:09.599 If you're if you run a golf course and you 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:11.560 don't have it, you should get it. You're gonna run 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:15.159 better events with it. You can learn more at golf 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:19.240 genius dot com. That's golfgenius dot com. And big thanks 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:22.760 to Golf Genius for our partnership. We love our partnership 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:25.240 with Golf Genius, right, it makes our Friday golf events 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:29.120 way better. So all right, let's get to talking about 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:32.360 a different golf genius and golf genius on the course. 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:36.480 You know, without a doubt, I it's kind of like amazing. 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:40.160 And when you think back about brooks Kepka and all 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:43.560 these majors, it's like he's just been a force of 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:52.000 nature the last ten years. So let's talk about brooks Kepka. 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:59.480 All right, we are back where I'm excited about this podcast. 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:02.400 We've done a couple of these player focused podcasts. We 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:06.279 did one on Jordan Speeth and as well as Justin Thomas. 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:09.240 Kind of it's almost like a state of the Union 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:13.080 on these on these players. Today we're going to hit 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:17.359 on brooks Koepka. This is I think, like since I 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:23.359 got into this job, probably you know, the most I 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:26.800 think the player with the most high moments in the 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:31.560 last eight years. I think he's obviously won five major 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:37.479 championships in the last seven years. He's been a absolute 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:41.200 force at majors, but also is one of the more 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:46.160 unique players in the sense that major success doesn't necessarily 0:06:46.200 --> 0:06:50.320 equal piling up wins on the PGA Tour or the 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:54.279 Live Tour. He's been, you know, a a player that 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:56.760 rises to the occasion in the big moments when the 0:06:56.800 --> 0:07:00.440 golf gets really hard, and been a player that you know, 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:04.200 maybe maybe he does, maybe he's loafin the other weeks, 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:08.200 maybe he's just not expending his mental energy, but he 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:12.280 has been, without a doubt, the player I would say, 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:15.400 of the last seven years if you focus in on 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:19.400 major championship golf. I'm joined by Brentley Romine from Golf 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:22.920 Channel as well as Joseph Lamannia from Brideay Golf to 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:26.200 talk about this guys. I wanted to start it out. 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:30.440 I have so many vivid Brooks memories from his majors 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:34.160 and all the majors he's won. What are what are 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:37.440 the what's the memory like the shot or the moment 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:40.080 or the stretch of golf that you remember the most. 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:43.280 All Right, I'll lead it off. So it's it's kind 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:45.480 of crazy because I think back in he's won what 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:48.520 five major titles now, and I was fortunate enough to 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:50.920 be at three of them, and I think the thing 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:53.760 that sticks out the most to me is the battle 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:57.200 with Tiger Woods. It wasn't necessarily with Tiger because Tiger 0:07:57.280 --> 0:08:00.000 was a couple of groups ahead, but I just remember 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:03.040 remember it being it felt like it was like one 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:06.960 hundred and ten degrees. There were so many people there. 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:10.960 Tiger made eight birdies and I think maybe his best 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:13.640 final round in a major ever at Bell Reeve and 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:16.640 still couldn't track down Brooks. And toward the end there 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:18.480 was a shot on sixteen it was like two hundred 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:22.040 and forty seven yards and he just rips like this 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:24.960 towering iron shot to like six feet and that was 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:28.400 just the like that was the exclamation point on that win. 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:31.560 And then like the way it was on eighteen, there 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:34.199 was like this catwalk that you had to walk. It 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:37.040 was probably about almost one hundred yards, and there was 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:40.040 just the sea of fans, and I just remember like 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:42.960 the image of him just walking across with Jenna and 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:45.560 then they like walk right past Tiger like coming out 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:47.640 of scoring. And so that's kind of like the image. 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:50.320 It's kind of funny out of all the places that 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:53.079 he's won, it's funny that Belle Reeve kind of sticks 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:54.120 out the most. 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:58.080 I think you said, you know, going toe to toe 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:01.319 with Tiger. But like I mean of the players of 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:08.720 this like kind of late late twenty tens into the twenties. 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:12.880 He ran into Tiger at the at the nineteen Masters too, 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:16.560 Like that was another like he I don't know if 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:19.840 there's any player that's like in that, you know, speak 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:23.880 justin Thomas, you know, Brooks, Kopka thing that have had 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:26.680 two run ins at majors with him, one he won, 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:28.760 one he lost. Yeah. 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:31.320 Well, he also was paired with Tiger early at I 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:36.280 believe it was the twenty nineteen PGA, played the first 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:39.360 two rounds and he shot the course record, tying sixty 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:42.000 three at beth Page. And then one of his first 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:44.360 major rounds was with Tiger as well. He played the 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:46.880 final round o Kill in twenty twelve and shot seventy seven. 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:49.840 So it's funny to see the growth of Brooks from 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:54.240 a kid off the Challenge or in twenty twelve shooting 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:56.480 seventy seven, and it's like this guy doesn't have it 0:09:56.520 --> 0:10:00.000 to Frankly, he's probably gotten the best out of Tiger 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:01.560 more often than not. 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:07.480 Yeah, Tiger, you know asterisk when you got the best 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:10.520 out of Tiger, I think. But but yeah, I mean 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:12.960 he's gotten the best out of most people in majors, right. 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:17.000 I think that's the resounding thing. Joseph, what's your moment? 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:21.440 Maybe I'm cheating Andy because I'm not picking a moment, 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:25.880 I'm picking a quote. And this is probably one of 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:27.640 my favorite quotes about a golf forever. 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:29.880 This is a quote I come. 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:31.520 Back to every time Brooks is at the top of 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:34.520 a major championship leader board, which fairly often, which is 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:38.920 a quote from Steve Williams in twenty fifteen to Golf Digest, 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:42.360 in which Steve Williams, who's seen some good golf, says, 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:45.679 once in a great while, a player comes along who 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:47.320 hits a golf ball the way it was meant to 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:52.400 be hit, powerful, piercing the perfect trajectory of the young 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:56.199 players out there. One I've seen has that special ballflight, 0:10:56.640 --> 0:10:59.839 Brooks Koepka. He goes on, says a couple more lines, 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:02.280 and he says, obviously he's searching to find the other 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:04.760 parts of the puzzle. But I haven't seen a ball 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:08.920 flight like that since Tiger and before that Johnny Miller. 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:11.800 And that's twenty fifteen before Brooks is even won a major. 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:14.760 I think it's a really cool quote, and going back 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:18.840 preparing for this pod, watching some major championship final rounds 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:22.320 again some highlights from Brooks. I think that's what stands 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:24.559 out to me the most about Brooks is that ballflight. 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:27.599 That he's just striking it differently than other guys in 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:31.720 the field. See that at Aaron Hills, see that at Shinnacock. 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:36.839 Just these unbelievable piercing stock fades, but also a lot 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:39.520 of draws with his long irons. There just aren't many 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:41.480 players in the modern era who can hit an iron 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:41.840 like Brooks. 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:47.840 Kopkas a heavy ballflight, right, it feels like when he 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:52.440 hits the ball, it just everything like the sound. There 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:56.160 is a distinct sound with his interaction with the ball 0:11:56.200 --> 0:11:56.800 in the turf. 0:11:57.800 --> 0:11:59.560 He's one of the few guys who you can feel 0:11:59.840 --> 0:12:02.720 the shot. And I hate to compare him to like 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:05.040 a player who hasn't really done much, But the only 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:08.440 other guy that I've kind of been around that is 0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:11.720 kind of known for that is Jack Maguire, another Florida 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:15.319 State guy. I know it's it's almost blasphemous to compare Kopka, 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:18.680 but it's very similar and it's I don't know, maybe 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:21.240 Florida State likes recruiting the same guys. I had another 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:25.199 quote that is my favorite Brooks quote. Since Joseph is 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:29.439 sharing quotes, this is the best Brooks Kopka quote from 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:33.600 his entire life. So he basically is has just been born. 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:38.160 He's laying in his bassinet. It's in the hospital, and 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:40.760 the pediatrician comes in or the doctor comes in, and 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:44.080 he's he's looking at at Brooks the baby, and he 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:48.120 turns around to his mom Denise, and he says, quote, 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:50.240 this is the most serious child I've ever seen in 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:53.400 my life. End quote. And that to me, that quote 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:55.960 just sets the tone for Brooks Keopka. I mean, it's 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:59.000 a perfect description of him. 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:03.240 Interesting. I if we're talking about quotes, one of my 0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:09.240 favorite things he said where You're Going was the I'm 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:13.880 only playing against a couple guys in a major. I 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:17.920 think about that all the time because I it's legitimately 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:22.079 how I used to think about State Am qualifiers, and 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:26.720 Brooks like like to me that it's wild that Brooks 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:30.840 took the same philosophy that I would about like trying 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:35.000 to qualify for State Am to a major championship, and 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:41.440 the theory is like half the guys shouldn't be there. Yeah, 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:44.679 half the guys that should be there aren't going to 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:48.360 play well. And then with Brooks, he took it to 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:51.280 like a whole, like I'm better than the half the 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:54.920 guys that should be there that are playing well. And 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:57.000 then it comes down to like I only have to 0:13:57.040 --> 0:13:59.079 beat a couple guys that are a major. They're easier 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:03.280 than anything else. And I I mean, I find it 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:07.240 amazing because like it's it kind of speaks to like 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:15.559 that supreme supreme talent, supreme confidence, but also like this 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:20.360 this understanding of really how tournament golf works. You know, 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:25.240 I think like him and DJ got cast into this 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:29.360 like kind of bombers, like they're these the Bash brothers, 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:34.640 and like DJ given each other a needle the quotes 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:37.680 from DJ. But I think like when you get down 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:40.840 deep rooted into each of them, they are like golf 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:44.720 savants in terms of like the understanding of golf and 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:50.240 competitive golf. And there is like there's a layer to 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:56.400 Kopka of like physicality. I think that also you know 0:14:56.560 --> 0:15:01.560 comes through in and and Tim and he intimidates other players. 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:08.680 Andy you talk about golf intelligence and going to moments 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:12.240 from Brooks's career that stand out one that hadn't stood 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:14.720 out to me that I went back and watched and 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:16.400 was struck by. And I'm curious if either of you 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:20.400 guys remember this, but the final round at Shinnakock Brooks' 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:24.680 is Bogie on eleven is really interesting to go back 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:27.760 and watch where he pulls this iron shot long left 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:30.360 and he's he's in jail, and he's. 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:33.680 Isn't he playing with DJ? I think he's paired with 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:37.360 DJ too. I believe you're I believe you're correct. I 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:38.080 believe you're correct. 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:43.600 Brooks knows he can't leave that chip shot short, and 0:15:43.640 --> 0:15:46.360 that's another thing that I think Dustin Johnson has spoken 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:48.520 to before, like when he's short sighted, he's not going 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:51.200 to go for the hero shot and potentially leave himself 0:15:51.240 --> 0:15:54.760 in jail. So Brooks like hits it over and into 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:56.800 the bunker and it's not in a good spot, but 0:15:56.840 --> 0:15:58.720 he wasn't going to leave it short and makes an 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:01.920 incredible up and down for Bogey that he makes like 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:05.080 a fifteen footer just to save that. Boguey goes on 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:07.560 to win the tournament, obviously by one. I'd kind of 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:10.600 forgotten about that moment, but for as good of a 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:13.120 ball striker as Brooks is. When you go back and 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:16.720 watch a lot of these majors. He also puts incredibly 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:20.520 well and holds so many crucial putts that kind of 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:25.520 look nonchalant, But it's this relentless ball striking paired with 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:27.640 an ability to get up and down when it counts 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:29.280 and to make a lot of clutch putts, So that 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:31.040 that Bogue in particular stood out to me. And I 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:32.880 was curious if either of you even remembered that, because 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:33.240 I had not. 0:16:34.080 --> 0:16:38.360 I remember that. I like my moment is the back 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:41.560 nine at Shancock, Really the entire back nine. I thought 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:46.000 that was. You know, that was a day where where 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:49.600 players were just like tapping out and it was like 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:53.320 a total like succession of like, oh maybe this guy 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:56.560 could win. Oh he's gone, you know. And at the 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:59.880 end of the day, the man left standing was Brooks Kopka. 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:02.840 And it was because of the way, like he astutely 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:06.919 calling out eleven. One that I always will never forget 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:09.919 is fourteen, the long par four where he had to 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:13.320 chip out because he drove it into the tall stuff. 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:16.000 He chips out and he's got I think it was, 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:19.600 you know, I didn't rewatch this but as I remember, 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:22.160 he had like about sixty yard wedge to front pin, 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:26.480 not an easy shot downwind, and he bounces that wedge 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:29.439 up to like, you know, fourteen feet or so and 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:32.600 makes the putt. And I think like the through line 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:37.840 of all Brooks's majors is like just like he never 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:42.320 gives stuff away, you know, and it is like the 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:47.880 constant momentum whenever he needed the momentum putt to make 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:51.120 the par or in the case of the eleventh hole 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:55.600 of bogie, like he never gave away that extra shot 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:59.439 and he kind of kept kept the train on the tracks. 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:04.040 And going in Shinnakok to me is like the tournament 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:08.960 that magnifies and like shows off everything because every guy 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:11.040 kind of bailed out of that tournament. 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:14.439 Well he was kind of forgotten too going into that 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:16.800 tournament because remember he had that risk entry at the 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:20.520 end of the previous year. He missed the Masters that year, 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:24.080 and I think it was one of those things where 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:28.080 it was one of those a long list of Brooks 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:31.439 being slided examples where he wasn't a he may not 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:34.280 have been mentioned on like a Golf Channel notables list 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:37.840 or something, and so that was the chip on his 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:41.760 shoulder that week, and I think he almost I say almost, 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:44.320 but he got off to a really bad start that 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:46.679 tournament too. He was something like seven over through his 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:48.760 first twenty one or twenty two holes and then played 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:51.679 the rest in six under which that was of course, 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:56.119 the we lost the golf course Saturday. Phil was, you know, 0:18:56.160 --> 0:18:59.199 putting around on the green and one of my favorite 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:01.680 moments too from that tournament, and this doesn't have much 0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:04.760 to do with Brooks, but do you remember Phil and 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:08.560 the kid with the Donald Duck hat in the final 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:11.199 round on Sunday? There was a kid who had a 0:19:11.240 --> 0:19:14.480 Donald Duck hat and Phil every hole would go over 0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:17.280 and rub it, and there was there's a video online 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:19.480 but for some reason that just kind of sticks out, 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:22.520 but not to get on a huge tangent. But yeah, no, 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:26.040 that was a crazy week. That was I don't know, 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:28.919 seeing like mentioning that shot on fourteen Andy where he 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:32.119 was like hitting out of the like cabbage, like, I 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:34.320 don't know. I feel like people were so surprised that 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:36.560 he was able to come back from that injury so quickly, 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:39.840 and that just sets the table for all of these 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:42.760 injuries pretty much like with the knee surgery and the Masters, 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:44.840 and I think it just boils down to the fact 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:48.360 that Brooks is just tougher than everybody else, and it's 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:49.440 always kind of been that way. 0:19:50.800 --> 0:19:55.800 It's I mean that parlays a little bit into coming up. 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:59.440 I think like he he took obviously this is very 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:03.159 well pubblic size, but he took a different path to 0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:05.800 the PGA Tour. He went up through the Challenge Tour. 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:08.359 He played in Europe, and his coming out party was 0:20:08.560 --> 0:20:12.919 really like the Pinehurst US Open is where everybody he 0:20:13.040 --> 0:20:16.800 became a household name, the Martin Kaimer Pinehurst US Open. 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:21.920 But there's this Brooks Kepka, this young big American player 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:25.960 who you know, had been playing in Europe, that that 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:28.760 kind of burst on the scene there. Obviously, the Waste 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:32.960 Management win was his first one. But Brentley Near, you've 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:39.320 covered amateur and college and you know, pro golf for 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:43.080 a number of years now, what was kind of Brooks 0:20:43.440 --> 0:20:45.720 as an amateur and what was he thought of as 0:20:45.880 --> 0:20:48.960 as a you know, heading into college and then turning professional. 0:20:49.000 --> 0:20:51.600 What was he considered he was. 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:54.359 Along the lines of a player that that was a 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:57.119 very regional player, like we've seen some of those in 0:20:57.160 --> 0:20:59.959 the past. Decade or so with maybe a Maverick McNeil 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:03.679 or Justin So and a lot of it was necessity, 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:06.840 Like the Kopkaz didn't have a lot of money growing up. 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:09.879 They obviously had two, you know, budding golf talents to 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:12.400 fund their careers. So Brooks played a lot a lot 0:21:12.400 --> 0:21:16.000 of fjt's in Florida and he really wasn't He was 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:18.159 a good player. He won an AJGA, he had a 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:20.640 bunch of top tens. He would play in their invitationals, 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:23.800 but he wasn't a I'm trying to think of the 0:21:23.840 --> 0:21:27.320 guys in his recruiting class, but he wasn't a blame barber. 0:21:27.800 --> 0:21:29.840 Or there was a kid named Wesley Graham who was 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:34.119 also really good who didn't quite pan out. But I 0:21:34.560 --> 0:21:37.160 think when he went to Florida State he was kind 0:21:37.200 --> 0:21:39.320 of known as this hotthead like he had a lot 0:21:39.320 --> 0:21:44.240 of talent, had these broad shoulders, had the ball striking, 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:47.399 had the sound all that, like, he had everything he wanted. 0:21:47.440 --> 0:21:52.159 But he was an absolute like head case. And Chris Malloy, 0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:54.119 who's the head coach at Ole Miss now, he was 0:21:54.119 --> 0:21:57.960 the assistant at Florida State under Trey Jones, And I 0:21:57.960 --> 0:22:01.560 mean there's stories where Molloy would, you know, be making 0:22:01.680 --> 0:22:04.159 Kopka run stadiums and he'd be at the bottom with 0:22:04.200 --> 0:22:06.639 the trash can and Kopka would like puke into the 0:22:06.680 --> 0:22:08.920 trash can and then head right back up the stairs 0:22:08.920 --> 0:22:11.439 to do it like another stadium. And there was a 0:22:11.440 --> 0:22:15.720 five second roll too in college where Brooks like because 0:22:15.760 --> 0:22:18.399 he would break clubs and so he basically had to 0:22:18.400 --> 0:22:21.640 put the club in the bag within five seconds otherwise 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:23.919 he'd get you know, he'd have to run stadiums or 0:22:24.000 --> 0:22:26.800 do extra gym time. But then after a while, like 0:22:26.840 --> 0:22:29.040 none of that would work because Brooks just thought of 0:22:29.040 --> 0:22:32.360 the stadiums as, oh, that's just my cardio for the day. 0:22:32.600 --> 0:22:35.560 Like he just you couldn't quite crack him. And it's 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:38.040 funny because I talked to Maloy the other day and 0:22:38.560 --> 0:22:41.000 I was asking him, like, when was the turning point? 0:22:41.040 --> 0:22:47.320 Because Brooks now is known as this what like this uncrackable, 0:22:47.520 --> 0:22:51.199 like just mental force. But I'm like, when did it? 0:22:51.480 --> 0:22:53.560 When was the turning point for him? And I think 0:22:53.560 --> 0:22:59.440 it was really it was a sophomore year. His mom 0:22:59.520 --> 0:23:05.199 had had just been diagnosed with cancer towards the end 0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:08.919 of that previous year and you know, so Brooks was 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:12.399 dealing with that, but then also he was he was 0:23:12.440 --> 0:23:15.240 contending at their home tournament and he blew a shot 0:23:15.280 --> 0:23:18.679 out of bounds and he just started f bombing and 0:23:18.800 --> 0:23:22.880 just really making a scene of himself, and he lost 0:23:22.880 --> 0:23:25.040 so much focus that he gets in signs his card 0:23:25.119 --> 0:23:28.159 and he signs for the wrong score, and so he 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:31.920 decuses himself and the team goes from beating I forget 0:23:31.920 --> 0:23:33.880 who they were playing. It might have been like Georgia 0:23:33.880 --> 0:23:36.920