“I think that's what I'm excited for” - Brooks Koepka anticipates friendly rivalry and trash talk ahead of LIV Chicago
Brooks Koepka is less than two weeks away from his biggest commitment of the season, the 2023 Ryder Cup. But he won't be doing so without first fulfilling his obligations at LIV Golf, including a fun pro-am.
Koepka will emulate his European counterparts and play in a competitive pre-Ryder Cup tournament, the LIV Golf Chicago. The tournament begins this Friday, but on Thursday, Koepka will be one of the entertainers at the Pro-Am event. He will go head-to-head with none other than Dan Katz.
All signs point to Brooks Koepka relishing the opportunity to take on the renowned content creator from Barstool Sports. Here is what the player had to say about it, according to NUCLR Golf:
“Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing Big Cat with no knee flex hitting the golf ball. I think that's what I'm excited for. The sh*t-talking will definitely be there. I know we've gone back and forth in texts over the last few days. Hopefully, I win this match, otherwise I'm going to hear it for a while.”
The news of Dan 'Big Cat' Catz's participation in Thursday's Pro-Am event, as well as his pairing with Brooks Koepka, was confirmed by Barstool Sports itself.
Big Cat is one of Barstool Sports' top stars. He currently hosts the popular sports comedy podcast Pardon My Take.
How Brooks Koepka gets to the 2023 Ryder Cup
During the 2023 season, Brooks Koepka confirmed himself as one of the main stars of the LIV Golf circuit. Both for what he has done in the 11 tournaments in which he has participated, as well as for his performance in the majors.
Koepka currently sits in fourth place on the LIV Golf individual leaderboard. He has accumulated 112 points so far, 68 points behind the leader, Australian Cameron Young.
His results are excellent. He has one victory (Orlando), two third-place finishes, one top-10 finish and three top-20 finishes. His worst result of the year was a 41st-place finish at the Greenbrier.
As for the team competition, Smash GC, led by Koepka, is in eighth place with one runner-up and three fifth-place finishes as its best results.
He has also excelled in the majors. He tied for second at the Masters, won the PGA Championship, and tied for 17th at the US Open. He made the cut at The Open Championship, but finished T64.
Koepka nearly qualified for the Ryder Cup on his own, relying solely on his performance in the season's majors. He was edged out by Xander Schauffele in the final PGA Tour event. Nevertheless, he received one of the captain's picks.
The 2023 Ryder Cup will be Koepka's fourth. He won twice in his previous three appearances.