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USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

Some golfers enjoy being in front of the camera while some don’t. Take Bryson DeChambeau for instance. He is not only known for his golf skills but also for entertaining his followers through his YouTube channel. But on the other end, we have Brooks Koepka, who doesn’t care for too much attention. “I’m here to play golf. I’m not here to do anything else,” said a disinterested Brooks Koepka back in 2018 while alluding to how he felt about not being the people’s favorite in the sport.
Come 2024, it looks like the golfer still feels the same as he declined an interview after the first round of the U.S. Open. Yes, you read that right!

This incident was shared by ‘NUCLR GOLF’ on X. The tweet read, “After declining an interview post round, Brooks Koepka agreed to a text message interview with Eamon Lynch: “I opted not to do ‘em just because I didn’t feel like it. Same questions every week. The lack of creativity with questions is kinda boring. I know I’m not a media favorite either so it’s not like anyone will notice. LOL.””

Eamon Lynch further explored the topic of the level of creativity the questions should contain and whether the questions were up to his “bulletin board” material for majors week. Koepka, when answering, not only shared a few suggestions of what the questions could entail but also gave insight into his mental state for the 124th U.S. Open: “No, definitely not. It’s a major. I have enough self-motivation. I could think of way more creative questions than ‘Do you think the course is borderline? What happened on those bogeys? What went well?’ Then some LIV versus PGA Tour questions.”

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Brooks Koepka’s last suggestion prompted Lynch to inquire about the questions posed to golfers at LIV Golf. Lynch was curious if, given the PIF-funded league’s reputation for being different, vibrant, and entertaining, the same applied to the questions asked during post-press conferences. To which the 5-time major champion replied, “Really haven’t done much media, to be fair. PGA [Championship] was the last time I had media. It’s not a punishment thing. I always answer and didn’t really feel like it this week.”

His refusal to do the press conference came after a Thursday round, during which he found himself at the top of the leaderboard at one point. However, three bogies on the back nine at the par-4 13th, par-3 15th, and par-4 16th pushed him down to T16. Did that play a part in him declining the interview? Well, that is exactly what Lynch asked!

“I was fine with it,” replied the 5-time major champ before adding how he could have done better. “Obviously could have been better but even par in a U.S. Open will not hurt you.” The pro had finished tied at T17 with an even-par score of 70 after carding an equal number of birdies and bogeys. Many in the community did not shy away from expressing their support for the LIV Golf Pro. They came forward to agree with the golfer as they took to their X handles to comment under the tweet that was shared just hours ago.

Fans back Brooks Koepka’s opinion! Did he just win everyone’s hearts?

The interaction between Eamon Lynch and Brooks Koepka was amusing. The community thought so as well when they reacted with comments such as, “Haha this is class” and “This text format made me like Brooks more. That’s clearly the opposite of what Eamon wanted.”

Such a response by the fans doesn’t come as a surprise, especially when one looks at the writer’s view of the player back in 2018 when he wrote, “Koepka has repeatedly declined the glitzy media tours that usually await a major champion. A modern PGA Tour golfer who doesn’t moonlight as a pitchman, who simply plays and goes home, is condemned to life below the radar.”

In 2022, the LIV Golf Pro mentioned how he came to play in the major to win the tournament. Brooks Koepka did so while exuding much belief in himself as he divulged the reason behind people not liking him: “I’m pretty confident, but I feel like everybody should be confident in themselves, and if you’re not – people hate confidence. That’s why people aren’t a big fan of me.”

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A couple of fans couldn’t help but convey how the current version of the golfer resembled his old self as they commented, “Yeah he’s locked in. Vintage Brooks,” and “Yay for Brooks.” The pro had then reiterated the same after a scintillating second round of 3-under 67, including three birdies, and an eagle at the 122nd edition of the event at the Country Club.

That’s not all. The 2017 U.S. Open champ was not made part of the pre-tournament interview schedule before the 2018 TOUR Championship. He had responded to the apparent snub while pointing out, “[The media] has their guys they wanna talk to, I’m not one of them and that’s fine.”

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Koepka also went ahead to highlight why he was on the field, as he added, “I don’t need to kiss anyone’s butt. I’m here to play golf. I’m not here to do anything else… I’d rather be written about because of my play.” Koepka, thus, showcased his carefree attitude back then as well, just as he is doing now.

A follower, consequently, responded, “Lol. Love him. He is the villain golf needs.” Well, one can’t blame the fans for taking the golfer’s side in this exchange now, can we? What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!