Brooks Koepka criticises ‘odd’ and ‘hectic’ Ryder Cup schedule
Koepka will play in his third Ryder Cup against Europe at Whistling Straits later this month
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America’s Brooks Koepka has criticised the “hectic” Ryder Cup schedule and suggested that he does not favour the team event.
Koepka will play in his third Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits between 24 September and 26 September.
The four-time major winner won three points on debut at Hazeltine in 2016 and a further one and a half at Le Golf National two years later, but explained that the busy nature of the condensed event makes it tough to relax between matches.
“It’s hectic. There’s no time to decompress,” Koepka told Golf Digest. “The mental side, you have to be able to turn it off. Sometimes, the power comes from being able to turn it on but I get power from turning it off.”
Koepka qualified automatically for a formidable United States team to be led by captain Steve Stricker in Wisconsin.
It includes eight of the top ten players in the world rankings, while Padraig Harrington and Europe boast only Jon Rahm - though the Spaniard is currently world number one.
However Europe have won four of the last five Ryder Cups, and Kopeka has revealed that he struggles with the team format.
“It’s tough,” he continued. “There are times where I’m like, I won my match. I did my job. What do you want from me?
“You go from an individual sport every week to a team sport one week a year. There are meetings and team building, and you’re whisked away for a lot of things like pictures and all that.
“I don’t want to say it’s a bad week. We’re just so individualised and everybody has their routine and different way of doing things. And now we have to go to a meeting at this time, or go do this, or go do that. It’s the opposite of what happens in a major week.
“It’s more demanding than I’m used to, and there’s a lot of emotion there, so by Sunday, you’re just dead.”
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