Tour Life
PGA Championship 2024: Brooks Koepka's 'punishment' for disappointing Masters performance sounds awful
Cliff Hawkins
Brooks Koepka has made it clear that he wants to get to double digit major championships. And considering he's already halfway there, there's little reason to doubt he'll make it happen. There's even more reason to believe Brooks will do if after hearing him talk on the eve of the 2024 PGA Championship.
That's because the defending PGA champ has taken his major championship motivation to another level. He revealed that after a disappointing T-45 at the Masters in April, he and his team put himself through some "punishment workouts." And they do NOT sound fun.
Q. After Singapore, you said that Augusta was a bit of an embarrassment in your eyes and you looked your team in the eye and said, sorry. What have you done to reset since then, and what did you have to actually tell your team there?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Not much. I just apologized. Everybody put in a lot of hard work. Dedicated a lot of time and effort and then for me to go out and play like that is not what I expect of myself, I don't think what they expect of me. So yeah, just we had a good talk and just kind of put our nose down and kept grinding. You know, had some difficult punishment workouts. It was long hours on the range. Just worked with everybody and really tried to go back to the fundamentals, and I think that was the important thing.
Q. You mentioned, you referenced punishment workouts in Adelaide. How are those different? What do you do to yourself in those workouts and what do you have to do? What causes that? Are you upset at your approach or the way you played?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, I'm not looking for the punishment workout. I just get told. It sucks. It's not a lot of fun. A lot more running. Very up-tempo, no rest. Ara Suppiah, basically he kind of oversees my program with Hamish and Kolby, and they talk and they figure it out. I walked in and Ara told me that you finished 45th; you're going to get penalized. I think I had like four or five days in a row of just -- I turned white, I wanted to throw up in a few of them. But yeah, got through it.
Turning white and wanting to throw up? Yeah, no thanks. But that kind of dedication is what makes world-class athletes different—especially an all-time great in his sports like Koepka.
In any event, Koepka is one of the favorites to win yet another Wanamaker Trophy this week. But we shudder to think what he'll put himself through if he misses the cut at Valhalla.
MORE GOLF DIGEST PGA CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE