Brooks Koepka says few golfers would want pressure of winning Ryder Cup on their shoulders
ROME — Whether it's arrogance or confidence, it's what makes Brooks Koepka what he has been for most of his professional career.
So when the Jupiter resident and five-time major winner was asked whether all 24 players said they would want to play the final match with the Ryder Cup on the line, how many would really mean it?
"Very few," Koepka said after mulling over the question for several seconds.
"False confidence, I think."
Koepka, of course, is part of what he believes is the minority: Those who say they would welcome standing over an 8-foot putt with national pride on the line.
He's been in these situations on this kind of stage. Sometimes he's succeeded. Sometimes he's failed.
But never has the moment been too big.
Koepka once famously said he knows he has a good percentage of the field beat at every major just because those golfers are not mentally tough. That's how he'll approach this week at Marco Simone Golf Club as the U.S. attempts to win on European soil for the first time since 1993.
"Guys should believe in themselves, but everybody else has got to be thinking that they don't," he said. "That's why I think that way. You've got to think you're the best player on the golf course, best player on the team, best player in that current time. And if you don't, then there's something wrong with you.
"I think a lot of guys have it, but I don't know how many guys would want an 8-footer with this on the line."
Koepka, 33, has rarely lacked that self-assurance. It's what makes him believe he can win at least 10 majors and possibly catch Tiger Woods' total of 15. It's why he can surrender a two-shot lead in the final round of the Masters, tell the world he knows exactly what he did, vow it will not happen the next time, then …
Win the PGA Championship one month later.
"He's built in my mind for the biggest of stages and there is no bigger stage than the Ryder Cup," U.S. captain Zach Johnson said.
Comparing United States and European Ryder Cup teams: Europe has edge in experience
Johnson had a decision to make when picking six players to complement the six who automatically qualified for the team. The wildcard was LIV Golf.
On one hand, Johnson was clear he had little regard for those who defected from the PGA Tour to play in a no-cut league with 48-man fields. But on the other, one of those who took the Saudi money was Koepka.
In the end, Koepka was an easy choice for Johnson after that runner-up finish at the Masters and PGA title.
Remember: "Biggest of stages."
And it was not until that Masters performance that even Koepka put the Ryder Cup on his radar, especially after an underwhelming 2022 season in which injuries had him in a place he had never been as a professional — one with self-doubt.
"I think after Augusta I kind of had my eyes on it," he said about wearing red, white and blue in Italy. "From there it was just motivation to get on the team."
Koepka's priority remains majors, events like Ryder Cup
And Koepka has been honest about at least one thing when it comes to his joining LIV Golf. When it comes time for the majors and an event like the Ryder Cup, that is his priority.
He admitted he used the LIV event in Tulsa as a tune-up for the PGA Championship. He told Sports Illustrated last week at the LIV event outside Chicago that his whole mindset the past few weeks was to prepare for the Ryder Cup.
And when asked if felt like he was representing LIV this week as the lone golfer on either side from Greg Norman's league, Koepka said:
"I feel like I'm representing the USA. That's what I've got on the front of my hat this week, so that's what I'm representing."
Koepka was not going to be baited into a LIV vs. everyone else debate. Especially not this week. Certainly, he heard the noise — Dustin Johnson saying he's disappointed he's not part of the team but understanding why he isn't, and Bryson DeChambeau believing he deserved a phone call from Zach Johnson explaining why he was not picked.
"Everybody had an opportunity to get there," Koepka said. "I mean, I had the same opportunity as every other LIV player, and I'm here.
"Play better. That's always the answer."
For one week, Brooks Koepka is part of Team America. Not a league backed by Saudi Arabia's blood money.
Ryder Cup
Friday through Sunday
Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, Rome, Italy
TV: Friday, 1:30 a.m., USA
Saturday, 3 a.m., NBC
Sunday, 5:30 a.m., NBC
Captains: Zach Johnson (U.S.) and Luke Donald (Europe)
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Brooks Koepka says few golfers truly would want an 8-foot putt to win Ryder Cup
