Brooks Koepka amazes PGA Championship star with ‘remarkable’ decision | Golf | Sport

Brooks Koepka left Akshay Bhatia and his caddie Joe Greiner stunned after revealing he doesn’t use yardage books during rounds. The 36-year-old is bidding to claim his fourth PGA Championship title this weekend.

Koepka, who made his return to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf earlier this year, is a five-time major champion. A victory at Aronimink would see him match Tiger Woods’ four PGA Championship wins, with the overall record of five shared by Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus. The former world No.1 carded one-under-par during his opening round on Thursday, placing him in joint-15th position, two strokes off the lead; Bhatia shares 49th after scoring one-over. However, Koepka’s instinctive and unconventional approach to the game previously left American golfer Bhatia and his caddie Greiner utterly astonished.

In footage recently posted on social media by the PGA Tour from the Players Championship, a notably surprised Bhatia asked Koepka: “You don’t carry a yardage book?” After Koepka replied, ‘No,” Bhatia shared the revelation with his caddie, asking: “Do you know another player that doesn’t carry a yardage book?”

While Greiner cited JT Poston as an example, he remained enthralled seeing Koepka’s unorthodox methods first-hand. “Oh, he doesn’t even have the book,” Bhatia’s caddie said. “I love it.

“That’s how I think I would play best. Doesn’t even have one. That is remarkable.” While Bhatia and Greiner expressed amazement at Koepka’s unconventional method, the multiple PGA Championship winner maintains that it improves his performance. “It’s not too difficult. I’ve played enough golf, I can eye it and pretty much know what it’s going to be by looking at it,” Koepka told the PGA.

“You just kind of know what it is. I just found myself looking at the yardage book too much. I’d look at it and see the bunker and looks like it’s tucked, then I look up and I see what’s in front of me and it’s not tucked. It’s why you play practice rounds.”

He added: “I’ve pretty much done that my whole career as a professional. You play the place plenty of years, plenty of times, practice rounds.”

“You know where the pin is, where you should miss it, where you shouldn’t miss it. So looking at a yardage book isn’t going to really do you any good because you already know where it’s at.”

Koepka reinforced his stance during a recent appearance on the Pardon My Take podcast. He embraced the approach roughly a decade ago and has typically chosen the right club before consulting his caddie Ricky Elliott, though his bagman retains the final decision.

“I think of it, like anybody else, you just ball a piece of paper up and throw it in the trash can and look like Kobe,” Koepka said of his reactive style. “All of a sudden, you start thinking about it and it’s just brick city.”

When quizzed about his relationship with Elliott, Koepka joked: “It’s up to Rick. If he doesn’t give the right number, I’m in a lot of trouble because I’m not backing him up!”