22 May 2023 , 05:14
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Brooks Koepka claimed he had no interest in speaking to Greg Norman after becoming the first LIV golfer to win a Major at the US PGA.
The LIV Golf commissioner immediately tweeted his congratulations after the American won his fifth Major title - and the first since joining the Saudi-backed breakaway league last year.
Koepka’s success follows his tied runner-up finish at the Masters along with fellow LIV star Phil Mickelson. Norman had said before the Masters that all the LIV players planned to invade the 18th green if a rebel player won the Green Jacket.
And the Great White Shark tweeted: “Congrats @BKoepka your comeback has been impressive. I am so proud of you.
"As for the @livgolf_league players they belong and the Majors and golf knows. 3 LIV Golfers in the top 10, 5 in the top 20, 11 made the cut.”
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But in his winner’s press conference sitting next to the Wanamaker Trophy at Oak Hill, Koepka was asked if he had yet heard from Norman.
“I called my wife (Jena), and that's it,” he said. “That's the only person I'm really interested in talking to. I texted -- my boys are here, and I'm just hanging with them and talking to my wife, and I can feel my phone buzzing even as we're talking right now. Last I looked, I think there was 600 text messages. I'll go through them.”
Brooks Koepka was in no rush to speak to Greg Norman after his PGA triumphKoepka has never been a big tub-thumper for LIV since joining after two knee surgeries. After taking the halfway lead at the Masters, he was asked if defecting would have been more difficult last year if he had been fit and healthy.
“Honestly, yeah, probably, if I'm being completely honest,” he admitted “I think it would have been. But I'm happy with the decision I made.”
Bryson DeChambeau declared that Koepka’s win was an important moment for the new tour and US PGA champion said: “Yeah, I definitely think it helps LIV, but I'm more interested in my own self right now, to be honest with you.
"Yeah, it's a huge thing for LIV, but at the same time I'm out here competing as an individual at the PGA Championship. I'm just happy to take this home for the third time. I think I was the first guy to win two LIV events. To win a major is always a big deal no matter where you're playing.
"All it does, I just think, I guess, validates it for myself. I guess maybe if anybody doubted it from Augusta or whatever, any doubts anybody on TV might have or whatever, I'm back, I'm here.”
Since his last Major victory at the 2019 US PGA across New York State at Bethpage Black, Koepka had suffered a crisis of confidence during his injuries which was captured in the Netflix Full Swing series.
While missing the cut at the Masters last year, he told his wife Jenna: “I’m going to be honest with you, I can’t compete with these guys week in and week out.”
Koepka said: “It's tough. It's very hard to explain. You can't fathom how difficult it is just to get going. It was a lot worse than I let on to you guys, let on to everybody. Maybe only five, six people really know the extent of it, and it was hard.
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Brooks Koepka holds the Wanamaker Trophy after his 2023 PGA Championship victory. (Getty Images)"Cold weather, it was achy. The swelling didn't go down until maybe a couple months ago. That's almost, what, two years? It's been a long road. But look, that's who I am. I'm open and honest. I know I seem like this big, bad, tough guy on the golf course that doesn't smile, doesn't do anything, but if you catch me off the golf course, I'll let you know what's going on.”
Koepka, 33, added: “Now It feels damned good. Yeah, this one is definitely special. I think this one is probably the most meaningful of them all with everything that's gone on, all the crazy stuff over the last few years. But it feels good to be back and to get number five.
"I want to keep doing what I'm doing. It's working so far. Back to having a chance pretty much every time I tee it up. So I'm very pleased with the way I'm playing. I like the way I've worked with everybody. It's been a lot of fun."