HONDA CLASSIC

February 24, 2022

Brooks Koepka

PGA National Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. Kind of neat seeing Peter's name on the board today. I know you used to live right down the road. Can you take us back to those days and what it was like for you two dreaming big?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, 2012 to probably -- I think he bought his place in 2015 maybe. Then kind of after about a year of Challenge Tour, we were traveling around, rooming together, it was me, him, Scott Pinkney, trying to think, there might have been one other guy, but yeah, we had a lot of fun in Europe together. It was fun. It's nice to see him play well, and hopefully he played well the remainder of the three days.

Q. How did the course play today?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I thought it was fun. The wind got up there probably a little bit earlier than I thought it would. Course is in good shape. There's not much grass on the greens. The green surfaces aren't great. A couple dead spots. But other than that, the course is in great shape from tee to the fringe. It's in really great shape.

Q. Are you content with 2-under all things considered?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I didn't do anything to really deserve to be 4- or 5-under. That's a great score here. Just kind of ho-hummed it around, and like I said, didn't really deserve anything worse, didn't deserve anything better.

Q. Going back to Whistling Straits, what role did Zach fill in terms of your daily interactions?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Like I said, I think he's more of an energizer, like a team energizer. He's been pretty good. He's never really been a part of my pods, so all the details and certain things, I don't see maybe that other guys will see, but he's definitely fun to be around. He's a great guy. I think everybody that's played on a team that he's been on or been an assistant with him I think knows that it's deserved, and happy to see it.

Q. When you first came on TOUR, what were your interactions with him like? Obviously he was already a veteran and everything.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I mean, it wasn't too much. I never really asked any veterans. I just kind of watched from afar from certain guys, DJ, G-Mac, just picked up those two guys, stuff I wanted to kind of pull from each of them. But I didn't really -- probably the first time I ever played with Zach was probably the first time I ever talked to him. I don't know when that was, but yeah, probably '15, '16, somewhere around there.

Q. You talked yesterday about all that comes with playing at home or near home. Is there a pressure element to that, too, when you do have a lot of friends here that ordinarily wouldn't be able to come see you in person? Is there a little bit more pressure to perform in those moments?

BROOKS KOEPKA: No, I create all the pressure on myself, so it doesn't matter if this certain person is watching, not watching, here, not there. It doesn't matter to me.

Obviously it's nice to have them out. I enjoy it. A couple of my friends came down from Boston. I think one of them was out here today and one caddying for my brother, but the rest of them I think are coming down today.

Q. You mentioned you don't hurt yourself shooting a round like that today. What would you like to see maybe a little bit sharper?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Maybe a little bit of touch on the greens. It's funny because they look burned out a little bit or they don't have that green grass. It's more of the brown, yellowish stuff, and they look faster than they are, especially on the downhill putts or whatever. I think just looking at them, you think they roll out further than they do. But the speed on them is fine. It's just I think sometimes your eyes fool you, man.

Q. I know you don't scare easy, but it's generally accepted that the tee shot on 17 at TPC Sawgrass can be the scariest. I'm trying to figure out what's the second scariest tee shot?

BROOKS KOEPKA: The drop zone from 17 because I've been there a lot. I'll be honest with you, I've played that hole -- if they throw that stat up who's played it the worst over the last five years, it's probably me. Yeah, I haven't played that hole very well. But the second -- the drop zone up there, that's probably the second.

Q. How tough is the 18th tee shot?

BROOKS KOEPKA: It all depends on your club selection. You can hit 3-iron out there and rope it in and have a long iron in. Depends on the wind, honestly. I think if that wind is off the left, it makes it tougher. Yeah, I mean, I think I hit anywhere from 3-iron to 3-wood. I've never really been in a situation where I've got to get one down there, but yeah, maybe hit driver occasionally, once out of every 10 rounds maybe, the right wind, right conditions, everything. But you'd take par on that hole every day or play the week 1-over on that hole, I think you'd be all right.