“Would have liked to make it on my own” - Brooks Koepka admits his Ryder Cup pick was ‘close’

Brooks Koepka is the only LIV Golfer set to play the Ryder Cup this year. Speaking ahead of his LIV Golf Chicago outing, the 33-year-old golfer addressed the same and admitted that his pick to the US team was ‘close.’ Koepka said that he ‘would have liked to make it on his own’ to the squad but wasn’t complaining about it.

Koepka is currently at the Rich Harvest Farms for the 12th of a 14th LIV Golf event schedule. In the pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday, the golfer opened up about his selection to the Ryder Cup team and noted that he was “just happy to be on the team.” He also dubbed the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club as a ‘pretty difficult’ course to play and added that it’d be ‘interesting’ at the same time.

Opening up on his Ryder Cup selection, Brooks Koepka said, as quoted by Golfweek:

“I’m a pick this year, a little different. Would have liked to make it on my own but it was close. Just happy to be on the team. We went over to Rome a few, what was it, maybe a week and a half ago now. Good trip. Most of the guys were there. Got to see the golf course. It’s pretty difficult, but it will be interesting to see how they set it up.”

Dubbing the US vs. European competition as being “one of the top six, seven, biggest sporting events,” Koepka added that it’ll be ‘different’ to play as part of a team.

The LIV Golfer added:

“I mean, look, I think it (Ryder Cup) is one of the top six, seven, biggest sporting events you can have. So I like it when there’s a little bit more eyeballs, a little bit more pressure.

It’s obviously different with the whole team thing. Sometimes you don’t play every match so you are just cheerleading from the side, which can be quite fun as well. I’ve enjoyed it. It’s been great and I’m looking forward to it.”

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Brooks Koepka makes the Ryder Cup team as a captain's pick

It is pertinent to note that Koepka made the US Ryder Cup team as a captain’s pick. The golfer had held the sixth and final automatic qualifying spot for the American squad until the BMW Championship. The golfer slipped to seventh and lost the spot. This led US Captain Zach Johnson to announce him as a wildcard pick for the competition.

The golfer’s PGA Championship win and T2 finish at the Masters was enough to convince Johnson. The ongoing merger talks between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund also seem to have helped Koepka’s chances of wearing the red white and blue.

Interestingly, 11 of the 12 members of the US Ryder Cup team are taking the week off owing to a rare PGA Tour break ahead of their clash with Team Europe in Rome. Koepka is the only one playing this weekend.