Brooks Koepka receives Trump endorsement for LIV Golf DC
US PGA champion Brooks Koepka has been backed to thrive at the “bomber’s paradise” hosting this week’s LIV Golf League event by none other than President Trump.
Koepka heads to Washington DC for the $25m tournament fresh from winning his third US PGA title and fifth major on Sunday at Oak Hill in Rochester, New York.
It will be his first time playing the course but big-hitting Koepka has already been told that the 7,700-yard course should suit his game by its owner, the 45th president of the USA.
“All of Trump’s golf courses are phenomenal and fun to play, and I think they’re also quite tough. I play tough golf courses quite well,” he said.
“When I played with Trump a couple of months ago we were talking about it and he told me I’d love it. [It’s a] big-boy golf course. It’s going to be long.
“I don’t think we’ve really played too many long golf courses yet [in LIV Golf] – they’ve been a lot of thinker golf courses and position golf courses, where this might be more of a bomber’s paradise. It’ll be exciting.”
If long hitting is the order of the day at Trump National then Bryson DeChambeau could well be in the conversation too.
Like Koepka, the former US Open winner also takes good form to DC, having followed up his seventh-placed finish at LIV Tulsa with a share of fourth place at the US PGA.
“I think my game is progressing positively,” said DeChambeau. “It’s been a nice, condensed time frame for us to really get our games going. I’ve been out there once; it’s a fantastic property, great place. It’s a big golf course, and I like big golf courses.”
The same could be said of Dustin Johnson, who is seeking back-to-back wins on the LIV Golf circuit, having won in Oklahoma a fortnight ago.
“I’ve never played Trump DC, but I like all his golf courses,” said Johnson. “I haven’t played one I don’t like yet, so I’m looking forward to going there and seeing it.”
Stamina may come into play for all three of Koepka, DeChambeau and Johnson as they prepare to play their third tournament in as many weeks.
With that in mind – and as a way of celebrating his major triumph – Koepka scheduled a week of watching his home ice hockey and basketball teams in the end-of-season playoffs.
After seeing the Panthers in the Stanley Cup on Monday and Wednesday, and Miami Heat on Tuesday, the Florida native is only due to fly to Washington on Thursday, on the eve of the first round.
Reflecting on his whistlestop schedule, Koepka conceded: “I don’t know how well that LIV event is going to go.”