Brooks Koepka takes another pot-shot at Bryson DeChambeau

He might have more important things on his mind this week, not least becoming just the second player to win the US PGA Championship three years on the spin.

Even so, Brooks Koepka couldn’t resist the opportunity to throw yet another barb at his bitter rival Bryson DeChambeau.

During his pre-tournament press conference, Koepka was asked how he planned to adjust to the cooler conditions in San Francisco this week and if checking his numbers on a launch monitor would be part of his prep between now and Thursday.

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“No,” said the American. “I’m not going to be a scientist and go figure it out on TrackMan. I’ll do it out myself.”

That would seem to be a subtle pop at DeChambeau, the self-styled ‘Mad Scientist’ of golf, whose analytical approach to the game, whilst widely derided, has yielded some pretty impressive results.

For more background on the pair’s simmering feud, click here.

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Meanwhile, Koepka revealed that he reckons there are really only ten players that he has to beat this week in order to emulate Walter Hagen and become a winner of the Wanamaker three years running.

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The 30-year-old raised eyebrows last year when he said that he felt he had a mental edge over the majority of the field at majors. Asked today if he stands by those comments just over a year on, Koepka was in no mood to back down.

“I still feel that way,” he said. “The way the golf course sets up eliminates pretty much half the guys, and then from there, you know, half of those guys probably won’t play well. 

“Then from there, I feel like mentally I can beat them, the other half. So you’ve probably got ten guys. That’s the way I see it. If I can do what I’m supposed to, then yeah, I should.”