Brooks Koepka shares what he ‘tells everybody’ about the Challenge Tour after joining LIV Golf

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It is fair to say that Brooks Koepka had quite an unconventional route to the top of the golfing world in a career which has already delivered five major titles.

While it is now quite common for European players to almost immediately move on from the DP World Tour and seek to take their careers to the next level on the PGA Tour, it is much more unique to see an American get their start in the game on the other side of the Atlantic.

But that is what Brooks Koepka did, with the 34-year-old initially starting on the Challenge Tour – the second tier in Europe. And, unsurprisingly, he proved to be pretty successful as he won four times before taking that next step.

Of course, everyone knows what has happened since. Koepka has won five majors to become the most successful current player not named Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson. And after a few years on the PGA Tour, he jumped to LIV Golf where he became their first player to win a major after making the move.

Brooks Koepka suggests what he always says about the Challenge Tour

But it seems that he remembers the years at the start of his career most fondly. Speaking on Rick Shiels’ YouTube channel, Koepka explained how he views those early days.

“I was over there from 2012 until, I think I kept my membership until 2016. But yeah, I played over there. 2012, I think I played six, seven events on the Challenge Tour. Won, so I got my card for the following year which was huge, right, you’ve got a place to play. All I wanted to do was play golf. Got over there, and then won two of the first maybe six events, which was pretty good,” he said.

“And then came back to the States and I remember thinking, alright, if I can get this, got the European Tour card, it would be great, I can move over, transition back over to the PGA Tour. Won, I think, one of the next events and I think my first real European Tour event was the Scottish Open, maybe 2013, and then was over there for quite a while. And then made the transition over to the PGA Tour, which was quite cool. I won Waste Management in ’15.

“So it’s crazy to think, 13 years of playing professional golf. Time flies, it feels like so long ago, but I tell everybody it’s the most fun I ever had playing golf was the Challenge Tour, playing with different guys. I still see some of those guys when we go back over, and even now, here on LIV, you see a few of the guys, and it’s cool to see.”

What is overlooked about Koepka’s remarkable career record

The DP World Tour has certainly become a much more global tour in recent years. However, they must have hoped that Koepka’s path would inspire other potential superstars to go down a similar route – particularly with 10 PGA Tour cards up for grabs each year.

Having said that, Koepka is not far off being a once in a generation player. While the talents of Rory McIlroy are always lauded, while Scottie Scheffler could be an all-time great, Koepka’s ability to raise his game in a major is arguably unrivalled amongst his peers.

And it has perhaps gone under the radar how well Koepka has done to win on all tours he has played – with five victories already coming on LIV.