Sign up for our daily newsletter
Latest news, reviews, analysis and opinion, plus unmissable deals for bunkered subscriptions, events, and our commercial partners.
Could we soon see Brooks Koepka lapping it up at Cheltenham Festival?
At first glance, the prospects of one of the world’s richest golfers swapping his mansion in Jupiter for a few days at the iconic Gloucester racecourse in dreary March seem slim to say the least.
But let us explain.
• Brooks Koepka: Why I signed nine-figure LIV deal
• ‘LIV Golf saved me’, says tour pro
Thanks to his new Smash GC teammate Graeme McDowell at LIV Golf, the five-time major champion now part owns a race horse – aptly named ‘Givemefive.’
Trainer Harry Derham recently detailed how the horse eventually became owned by McDowell and Koepka after a golfing bet with the Northern Irishman.
“I’ve known Graeme for a long time and the conversation about owning a racehorse came about at a Pro-Am event,” Derham explained. “He said if I got closer to the pin than him then he would buy a horse and I somehow managed to get it within a few feet and beat him!”
Koepka now has a stake in Givemefive, which runs under the banner of Smash Racing, alongside McDowell and his friend Daniel Gambill, who are watching his progress from afar in Florida.
Dominant showing from Givemefive, congrats team🏆 😤 https://t.co/aT4lixoi4n
— Brooks Koepka (@BKoepka) January 22, 2024
The four-year-old runner is some talent too – continuing his unbeaten run by destroying his rivals to win by 18 lengths at a Warwick meet on Monday.
Reacting to the victory, Koepka wrote on X: “Dominant showing from Givemefive, congrats team.”
Carrying the Smash GC colours, Givemefive is now being teed up by racing experts as a possible contender at Cheltenham in either the Triumph Hurdle or Boodles handicap race.
And that begs the question: Could sports-mad Koepka conceivably pitch up to the world’s biggest horse racing festival to cheer on his new prospect?
LIV’s fourth event of the season in Hong Kong ends on March 10 – two days before the racing gets under way in the south-west of England.
• Piers Morgan and Olympic icon blast transgender golfer Hailey Davidson
• Legend claims LIV would ruin women’s game
After that, there isn’t another LIV event until April 5 – the week before the Masters – so there would be plenty of time to recover after a mad dash to the races.
And Koepka and McDowell wouldn’t be the first LIV golfers to take in the sights and sounds of Cheltenham Festival with the hope of a big win.
Lee Westwood hit the headlines as a punter rather than a prolific golfer back in 2019, winning £48,000 from a seven-fold bet with a £240 stake on day two of the festival.
The Englishman has been a regular at Cheltenham over the years, so could be the ideal tour guide if Koepka decides to make a first visit to the iconic racecourse.
ALL ABOUT THE OPEN
More Reads
The bunkered Golf Course Guide - Scotland
Now, with bunkered, you can discover the golf courses Scotland has to offer. Trust us, you will not be disappointed.
Find Courses