Koepka: 'I don't Practise For Regular Tournaments'

The World No.1 revealed he only practises for Majors and rates his short game as low as 4/10.

Koepka: 'I don't Practise For Regular Tournaments'

Brooks Koepka comes into this week's Open Championship at Royal Portrush and has been practising hard to win Major number five.

However, we learnt in his pre-tournament press conference today that it really only tends to be the Majors that he practises for.

The American revealed plenty of great stuff to the media including that he rates his short game as low as 4/10.

Here are five things we learnt...

1. Koepka only practises for Majors

"Regular tournaments, I don’t practise," said the World Number One.

"If you see me on TV, that’s when I’m playing golf."

Watch the clip below -

Koepka happily admitted that after finishing tied 57^th in The Travelers Championship at the end of June, he didn’t touch a club for 10 days before turning up for his practice round on the Wednesday before the 3M Open, where he came 65th.

"That happens week in week out," said the four-time Major winner, who has played only four regular PGA Tour events since The Masters.

This all changes four times a year: "My focus goes up tenfold when I’m in a Major."

For the record, Koepka arrived in Portrush last Friday, and, yes, he’s practised.

2. Brooks Koepka has still got a chip is still on his shoulder

Koepka said he’s "over trying to get the recognition" but that doesn’t mean he’s not carrying one if not several chips on his shoulder.

"I think you always have to have a chip on your shoulder," he confessed, "no matter what it is."

One of them is his own steely ambition: "I’ve got my own chip on my shoulder in terms of what I’m trying to accomplish.

"I’ve got my own goals – how many majors I want to win, how many wins — that’s where I find my chip."

3. He rates his short game as 4/10

On the subject of chips, Koepka said he thought his short game was good until he started working with Pete Cowen almost six years ago.

The Sheffield-born coach quickly put Koepka straight, informing him that it was actually a one out of ten.

"Pete’s been one of the best things that has happened to me," said Koepka, who discussed how aggressive he can now be around the greens.

"I like to be aggressive, and if I’m short-sided now I’ve got two or three shots that I can actually hit with two or three different clubs and still get it up and down."

4. He likes to keep it simple

"The older generation of coaches is very different," said Kopeka, who as well as fine-tuning his short game with Cowen, also works with Claude Harmon, who he describes as "like family to me."

"They just know what to say, how to build you up and get you ready.

"It’s not so much in the lead-up to a tournament but while you’re there, trying to build the confidence right before you go. They know the right things to say."

Koepka revealed that it was one simple word from Harmon that ignited his challenge at Augusta this year: "I putted terrible from Monday to Thursday in my warm-up. [Claude] said one little thing and, boom, off we went."

Since the end of 2012 when the professional relationship with Harmon began, Koepka says they have only worked on three things: "He knows to keep it very simple with me. I’m not going to be very mechanical.

"I’m not going to think about my golf swing when I’m out on the golf course. I just see it and go."

5. Brooks is blanking Tiger

Tiger Woods said he had texted Koepka to congratulate him on his second place finish at the US Open.

"What he’s done in the last four Major championships has just been unbelievable, to be so consistent, so solid," said Woods, who revealed he had also asked whether he could "tag along and play a practice round."

The answer? "I’ve heard nothing," smiled the man who pipped Koepka at The Masters.

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