Is Golf A 'Real' Sport? Brooks Koepka Isn't So Sure...

Is golf a ‘real’ sport? Brooks Koepka is not so sure on that one, as the five-time Major champion discussed that, his double-digit target for golf’s biggest prizes and why exactly he thinks golf is too “buttoned up” at times in an eye-opening podcast appearance.

You wouldn’t have paired Koepka and YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul together, but the current PGA Championship winner was as relaxed as you’ve ever seen him appear on camera, and offered forthright opinions on a number of golfing topics.

His tongue was firmly in his cheek at times, but Koepka did make some decent points on his LIV Golf contract, why golf needs to attract a younger audience and just how much effort he puts into making himself better.

But one of the highlights was when Koepka was asked if he even watched any golf when he was not playing. 

"I don't watch it in my free time, no," Koepka told the BS w/ Jake Paul podcast. "I'm a big sports guy so I'll probably go watch the NFL, MLB, anything.”

And the follow up was whether golf was a 'real' sport, to which Koepka had an eye-catching answer. 

"I don't know, sometimes I think it is and sometimes I think it isn't - I kind of flip-flop on that one," he admitted.

"Sometimes I look at the guys, and I hate dogging them, but I know what real athletes do, I know how guys train, how they do all this stuff.

"Then watching some guys [golfers] who’ll go 'I’ll go slam seven or eight beers every night and then go play in the morning'. Some people do that.

"There's no way I’d do it. If I'm in the Olympics and I'm running tomorrow, what am I going to do that night to prepare for it? Not that.

“It's probably the easiest sport on your body. You’ve just got to walk four miles, up a couple of hills. I don’t even have to carry the clubs, I'm not carrying anything."

Brooks target double-digit Majors

Although Koepka admitted that money was his reason for joining LIV Golf, his desire to win more Majors is what keeps driving him in the sport.

At 33 and with five already in his pocket, Koepka believes that double digit Major wins is well within his grasp.

“To me it’s all Majors, that’s what you’re defined by right?" Koepka said of his future ambitions. "You look at most golfers, hey why is Tiger or Jack the best and it all comes down to Majors.

"That’s the pinnacle of our sport, I've got five of them now and I want to get to double figures. I want to win 10 or 12 - I think that’s realistic.

"I think if I win two more I get into the top 10 in Majors, out of all the people that have ever played golf. I'm like 'damn I'm that close'. And that’s what kind of keeps me going."

Golf can be too stuffy

Koepka also laughed off his comments that appear in Alan Shipnuck's new book about LIV Golf, but had a reason behind it.

The book excerpt reads: "'F*** all of those country club kids who talk s*** about me,' he said, referring to the likes of Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and others. 'You think I give a f*** what they think? You think I care what people say about me?" 

Koepka says the comment was made as he's not a fan of the stuffy side to golf, which he feels holds the game back.

"Yep, that’s exactly why I said that," he added. "I just didn’t grow up with the buttoned up [golf lifestyle], didn’t have the privileges, we weren’t wealthy – golf was just something to do with my brother and my dad.

"If you've got a young kid you’ve got to spend about 1000 bucs for a set of clubs, that's part of the problem.

"It [golf] can be buttoned up, a little stuffy sometimes. It’s starting to change a little bit, especially with the younger kids coming out of college.

"It’s tough, most people that play golf, the average guy is probably 60 years old, white guy, he’s retired, golf is his life, that’s probably the average fan.

"So trying to get younger people into golf is the way forward."

After Koepka also said the "at the end of the day you’re an entertainer" Paul offered him and Bryson DeChambeau £1million each to step into the ring for a boxing match against each other.

"We could probably get something done," Koepka replied. Now that is something that the entire golfing world would like to see.