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Brooks Koepka talks the Olympics, Kobe Bryant, and Tiger at the Masters in a SiriusXM Town Hall broadcast

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Kimberly White/Getty Images for SiriusXM

While Brooks Koepka’s comments on SiriusXM regarding Patrick Reed grabbed the headlines this week, the four-time major champion spoke about several interesting subjects in the town hall broadcast, including the Olympics, Kobe Bryant and what Tiger Woods said to him following the 2019 Masters.

On the subject of the Olympics, Koepka stated how he was currently on the fence about the event, explaining how he believes it would be “cool to be an Olympian” but that it has “thrown a kind of a wrench in the schedule.”

“Right now, to be honest with you, I’m kind of 50-50. I want to do it, yes, I think it would be awesome to do. But at the same time we have majors, WGCs, the playoffs, its all kind of… I mean, these (motions to PGA Championship trophy) take it out of me, I’ll be honest with you. You come down and I need two days just to kind of mentally recharge.

It’ll be interesting just the timing of it, where it is at. The playoffs are kind of important. I’d like $15 mil. I think that’d be nice. I’d like to be fresh for that. If anything I’m leaning more towards going. It’s an honor. You play for your country.”

On hearing of Kobe Bryant’s death, Koepka spoke about how he was blown away, how he found it difficult to believe it was real, and how despite never meeting Bryant, the loss hit him so hard that he ended up crying in his hotel room.

As Bryant was his childhood idol, Koepka said he got on the phone that night to Nike to ensure that the unfinished project of his Kobe Bryant-inspired golf shoes would be completed to honor the basketball great.

The 31-year-old lost out to Tiger Woods by one stroke at the 2019 Masters, and recounted how Woods was quick to remind him that this levelled up their affair after Koepka had seen off Woods’ challenge at the 2018 PGA Championship.

“Augusta was interesting because, coming down the stretch I rinsed one on 12. We all know what happened. We all know he won. But it was crazy walking off the green and being there to congratulate him. The first thing he said was, ‘One-and-one now.’ (laughs)”

The entire Brooks Koepka Town Hall special will be rebroadcast on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio on Wednesday, Feb. 19 (10:00 pm ET), Friday, Feb. 21 (8:00 pm ET) and Sunday, Feb. 23 (noon ET). The full special is also available now on SiriusXM On Demand.

Brooks on the Olympics

Brooks on Kobe Bryant

Brooks on Tiger at the Masters

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Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at [email protected].

19th Hole

Butch Harmon reveals what he worked on with Rory McIlroy during visit earlier this year

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While speaking on the “Son of a Butch” Podcast, legendary swing coach Butch Harmon revealed what he worked on with Rory McIlroy when the four-time major champion went to visit him after the Players Championship this season.

“The work I did with him wasn’t a tremendous amount of changing what he did, it was his attitude and the way he played certain shots. From 150 yards and in he made a full swing like he was hitting a driver and I wanted him to make more 3 quarter swings and chop the follow through off a little. He’s a very high ball hitter, but with short irons high balls aren’t good, it’s hard to control, we wanted to bring the ball flight down.”

The work certainly seemed to help McIlroy, as he went on to win the Zurich Classic alongside Shane Lowry and the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in back-to-back starts.

Rory will now tee it up at Valhalla for the PGA Championship, which is the site of his most recent major victory in 2014.

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19th Hole

Brandel Chamblee says this technological development was key to Phil Mickelson winning major championships

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While speaking with GolfWRX, Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee shared that he believes the solid core golf ball helped Phil Mickelson win major championships.

“One of the consequences of the solid core golf ball coming around was it put the straightest of hitters in the rough.

“Phil started winning majors in 2004, I don’t think that’s any coincidence. I think he started winning majors after the solid core golf ball came along and put everybody in the rough.

“And so [Phil] is like ‘I got you in the rough, I’m going to kick your a**. This is my game. I’ve been in the rough my whole career. I can go over trees, through trees, around trees.’

“Because he’s got that amazing creativity and Phil is an underrated iron player, phenomenal iron player. Great, great great out of the trouble. If you put the top-40 players on a list and ranked them in terms of accuracy, he would be 40th.

“So, I think that was one of the consequences of the solid core golf balls was it allowed Phil to win major championships.”

Mickelson went on to win the Masters in 2004 as well as five additional majors from 2004-2021 including three total Masters, two PGA Championships, and an Open Championship.

Check out the full interview with Chamblee below:

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19th Hole

Former Augusta National employee pleads guilty to transporting stolen Masters memorabilia; Arnold Palmer’s green jacket among stolen items

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According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, a man was charged in Chicago with stealing millions of dollars’ worth of memorabilia from Augusta National last month.

The man, Robert Globensky, was charged with transporting the memorabilia across state lines.

The report states that between 2009 and 2022, Globensky allegedly transported “millions of dollars’ worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and historical memorabilia” from Augusta National “and transported to Tampa, Florida, knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.”

The document was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Since then, more details have emerged about the case.

According to Darren Rovell of Cllct, one of the items that was stolen was Arnold Palmer’s green jacket.

The Chicago Tribune also reported that Globensky was able to steal the merchandise due to his role as a former warehouse coordinator at Augusta National who oversaw the Masters merchandise that was sold.

Rovell states that “A source with intimate knowledge of the case said an Augusta National member, who knew the jacket was missing, contacted a well-known collector who had gained a reputation for tracking down rare items. The member’s goal was to return the jacket to Augusta under the guise of purchasing it in a private sale.”

The plan worked, and the man agreed to sell the jacket for an agreed upon price of $3.6 million. After the sale was complete, the FBI swarmed the house of the thief.

Cllct also reported that Globensky pled guilty in a federal court in Chicago on Wednesday and now faces up to 10 years in prison.

The Chicago Tribune adds that Globensky’s plea deal includes an agreement to provide the government a cashier’s check for $1.5 million in the next few days.

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