[man 1] All right. Good on sound? Speeding on both.
[man 2] Okay, you got slate.
Good to go.
[man 3] Tape one-four-three, interview take one.
Soft sticks.
[man 4] Clap it.
[man 1] Sound speeds. Rory McIlroy interview.
Full Swing Season 2.
Let's do it.
[chuckles]
[announcer] Just a year ago, you were LIV Golf, or you were not.
-[man] Tiger! -[Rory] I did not envision this happening.
It's astronomical money that they're throwing at people,
and everything's got a price, I guess.
I don't really care.
[Brooks Koepka] Going with LIV, I'm happy with the decisions I've made.
[Justin Thomas] I was very jealous of everything that Jordan did.
[cheering]
[Joel Dahmen] Someone's gotta be the 70th-best golfer in the world.
Might as well be me.
[Rory] I feel like I'm trying to win my first major championship again.
[Dylan Dethier] If the 2022 season was about disruption,
then the 2023 season is about figuring out what's next.
[Rickie Fowler] Going through this struggle for the last few years
is not easy.
It's a grind out there.
[announcer] You can't be serious!
If I don't play good golf, I can't provide.
We don't have a house. We don't have anything.
[Lona Dahmen] With everything that happened and all the craziness,
that's gonna wear anybody down.
Damn it, Joel.
[Dan Rapaport] At this point, you're on the PGA TOUR side,
or you're on the LIV Golf side.
And you've got the majors now that stand alone
as these four events per year where these guys meet.
[sportscaster] It's gonna be interesting to see how these guys come back together.
What's up, bud? You good?
I wanna have faith that this is the best thing for all of us,
but it's clear that that's not, uh, the consensus.
[Amanda Balionis] Not only do we have LIV players teeing it up
in all four major championships,
but it's also a Ryder Cup year.
[Justin] The Ryder Cup is one of the most special sporting events in the world.
It's the fucking best. [laughs]
Eyes on the prize.
[Justin] 12 Americans and 12 Europeans play against each other every two years.
Everybody wants to be on that Ryder Cup team.
I wanna make the Ryder Cup more than anything.
I'm thinking about the Ryder Cup every second of every day.
[Rory] We're really playing for something that's bigger than ourselves.
[Rickie] It's gonna be hard. There will be difficult situations, and drama can ensue.
[spectators jeering]
[announcer] And Rory is hot.
I'm looking around like, "What just happened?"
As if that wasn't wild enough.
[sportscaster] Some serious breaking news.
[reporter 1] The PGA TOUR merging with LIV Golf.
[reporter 2] Shocking.
[reporter 3] One of the biggest stories in the history of the sport.
-[Justin] So many unanswered questions. -[Joel] It's like, "What?"
-Has this happened in any sport's history? -No one knows anything.
There has been a lot of controversy and a lot of uncertainty.
I get all that.
It's hard for me to not feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb.
[man] This live stream's ending right now, boys.
Yeah, it's been quite the year in the world of professional golf.
[laughs]
[dramatic music plays]
-[aircraft engine roaring] -[indistinct chatter]
[laughter]
[Jordan Spieth] Dude, the funniest part is I'm sure he's taking a deuce. [laughs]
He'd be out by now if he was peeing.
[Rickie] True.
[Jordan laughs]
Yeah, don't worry. I wasn't taking a dump or anything.
I hope you feel like shit.
[laughter]
No pun intended.
[Jordan] Hey, I didn't do 'em all.
[Rickie] Jordan kind of screwed that one up.
Yeah. Sorry, Rick.
["Still That Way" by Jay Rock playing]
♪ BongoByTheWay ♪
♪ Came a long way ♪
♪ Came a long way, came a long way ♪
♪ Came a long way ♪
♪ Been a long way, real long way… ♪
[cheering]
♪ Came a long way ♪
♪ Real long way ♪
♪ Been a long way… ♪
This is gonna be… It's gonna be nuts tomorrow.
[cheering and chanting]
One girl ate it so bad in these heels.
She was so embarrassed, she didn't wanna fix it.
[laughs]
All this is is me putting sun… uh, sun cream on.
This was the same last season too.
[man] Take your shirt off, Joel!
-[Joel] Fuck. -[laughter]
We're professionals.
My parents always told me to think before you act.
[Justin] Ah, whatever.
[boy] Can you sign my bag too?
Yes, I will. Where do you want it? Do you care?
-[boy] Over here. -Right here?
[cheering]
[inaudible conversation]
[Dan] At the start of 2023, things are much clearer.
Last year, there was so much uncertainty.
Now it's sort of you understand
who's on which side of the battle lines.
You've got the LIV guys, and you've got the PGA TOUR guys.
They've kind of chosen their team. Yeah, now it's product versus product.
[applause]
[Dan] The PGA TOUR loyalists, I guess you'd put it,
guys who aren't so driven as much by money.
Justin Thomas.
Jordan Spieth.
Matt Fitzpatrick.
Rickie Fowler is another one who stayed on the PGA TOUR.
But Rory McIlroy is kind of the most salient one.
He is the face of the PGA TOUR.
[reporter] Rory, technically, you are world number one.
I'm just curious. Do you feel like you're the best player in the world right now?
Yes.
[reporter] Why is that?
Um…
Because I do.
Golf, with what happened with LIV last year,
and sort of with what's happening…
I have a pretty strong conviction
of what I think professional golf should be, what it should look like,
how competitive it should be, and I want to stand up for that.
[Collin Morikawa] Rory, what he's done throughout his career,
he's earned that presence
that everyone trusted to… to be the face,
essentially, to make sure things were going right.
People are gonna realize how much work he put into this,
because it's not easy to just come home and say,
"Hey, I'm going to open up my computer and hop on 50 Zoom calls."
[chuckles] I'm tired just traveling three weeks in a row.
I wanna come home and just sleep on my bed.
[chuckles]
-[indistinct chatter] -[cheering]
[Henni Koyack] Rory has been so vocal against the LIV tour.
He is taking front and center stage
as the ultimate superhero leading the rest of the pack of superheroes
against the LIV tour.
[cheering and applause]
[Henni] If he wins the major championship,
he can just sit back and cackle at everybody.
[chuckles] It's the ultimate icing on the cake.
[cheering]
People like to choose one side or another.
[fans shouting encouragement]
[Rory] If you have your finger on the pulse of golf…
[loud cheering]
…it's pretty apparent that one side has quite a lot more support than the other.
[light applause]
[distant shouting]
[indistinct conversation]
[Dylan] On the other hand, LIV is launching its first full season,
but it hasn't really shown that it has staying power.
I mean, so far, there's a lot of questions right now.
[spectators shouting]
[Dan] The guys on LIV got hundreds of millions of dollars
to leave the PGA TOUR, and some huge names did leave.
Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, all gone.
And major champions like Bryson DeChambeau,
Patrick Reed, Cameron Smith, they joined them.
These guys are unbelievable golfers, don't get me wrong,
but there is a consensus in the golf world that they just took the money,
and now they're not working nearly as hard.
At least in the public eye,
the PGA TOUR is still seen as the gold standard of golf.
-[announcer] Brooks Koepka! -[cheering and applause]
[announcer] He holds his nerve.
[Jena Sims Koepka] That was the stereotype of the golfers going to LIV,
is like, "Maybe they're washed-up, maybe they're done."
You know, "They're phoning it in."
"Let's just go and play easy golf. Three days, no cuts."
But Brooks is back. Let's see… let's see what happens.
[announcer] And he will head to Augusta in fine fettle.
[applause]
Hey, congrats, man.
-Great shit, dude. That's awesome. -[Brooks] Thank you. Appreciate it.
[Dan] When these guys meet at the Masters in a few days,
there is an expectation that the PGA TOUR guys will dominate,
proving that, from a golf perspective, they are the superior tour.
Okay, you got your belt on. It's not going to beep.
-Is it gonna beep? -[man] No.
No, it's not. We're good.
For me, it's like I know that clock is ticking.
I was able to knock off four major championships
pretty quickly in my career,
um, but I've been stuck on four for a while.
I don't deserve… No one deserves anything in this game.
Like, nothing is handed to you. It's all earned.
And I feel ready to earn it again.
I'm happy to be here.
-Thanks for doing it here. -Thanks for being here. This is awesome.
Yeah, it's cool. Really cool.
Really cool spot here.
-Let me know when you want me to go. -[man] Go ahead.
So, it's ten minutes each spot.
Here, Fortune, and then… and then Sean Martin with PGATOUR.COM.
-He's just… Yeah. -Cool.
[indistinct chatter]
[Rory] I think this new role that I've sort of been thrust into,
this sort of, you know, spokesman, or leader, or whatever it is,
it's certainly not something that I asked for.
I didn't go to Jay Monahan or anyone at the tour
and say, "Hey, let me… let me lead."
I maybe put myself in this position without really knowing it.
If you're not looking for ways to improve and you're standing still,
I just don't think that's the right way to approach things, so I think…
[Dan] Rory, for whatever reason, was willing to take on the burden
of being the face of the PGA TOUR.
[indistinct conversation]
[Dan] Rory's a very marketable guy.
You know, probably the biggest star to emerge in golf since Tiger Woods.
The exact type of guy Jay Monahan wants to smile and take pictures next to.
-[man] Three, two, one. -[cameras clicking]
[Rory] Thank you.
So, you're encouraging your… your… your people to take…
[inaudible]
[Rory] I would say I'm probably closer with Jay
than any of the other players on tour.
That would be my relationship with Jay.
[chuckles]
When did this open?
This opened, uh, May last year. May '22.
It was Jay and myself that were doing a lot of the critiques of LIV.
[Jay] I wanted to take a moment to address all of the news,
discourse, and conjecture lately about the world of professional golf.
The PGA TOUR is moving on.
[Rory] The top players in the world are saying no,
so that has to tell you something.
[Jay] Our members compete for the opportunity
to add their names to history books
without having to wrestle with any sort of moral ambiguity.
[Rory] I've always been an advocate of trying to make it more cohesive,
and this is, you know, ripping that apart.
We are, and we always will be, focused on legacy, not leverage.
[man] We're in the right spot.
-How are you? -Good to see you.
-Everything good? -I work with Sean with TMRW Sports.
[Rory] I didn't see it.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
[applause]
[Rory] With leadership comes some sacrifice,
and my day has been filled up with stuff.
Phone calls or emails or updates.
[indistinct conversation]
I feel like I've had a ton of balls in the air this year,
juggling and demanding of my time, and it's a matter of trying to balance it,
not trying to lose sight of the fact of what's really important,
which is trying to stay the best player in the world.
All right, see ya.
It sounds really simple when you say that, but, uh, easier said than done.
[dramatic music playing]
[announcer 1] It is wonderful to greet you once again
from the Augusta National Golf Club.
It is always the most anticipated round of the year.
The wait since July at St Andrews for major championship golf has ended.
The pursuit of the green jacket is here at Augusta, Georgia.
[announcer 2] Of course, part of the backdrop,
the LIV Golf tour playing in the Masters this weekend.
[Amanda] Joining us now is Brooks Koepka.
Where would you say your game is at
and what you need to work on prior to the first round?
Uh, game feels really good right now. Um, being healthy is a big thing.
[Amanda] A healthy Brooks Koepka is a great report for us to have.
-Thanks for that. -[Brooks] Thanks.
[Amanda] You're healthy. It's been a long time since we could say that.
It has been a long, long time. I just finally feel good.
It's incredible.
Like, even just bending down, getting down to read putts normal again.
-[Amanda] You're back. -Yeah.
[Amanda] Yeah, good to see you. Thanks, Brooks.
Yep. Thanks. Yep. You got it.
[Dylan] The Masters doesn't really need heightening to begin with.
It's the biggest event on the schedule.
And this year, the stakes just seem even higher.
[man] Phil, Phil!
[Dylan] It's the first time that we've seen guys from the PGA TOUR
and guys who went to LIV playing in the same tournament.
This is LIV versus the PGA TOUR,
and everyone is curious
how the respective sides are going to fare.
[announcer 1] A lot of the lead-up to this tournament about LIV Golf.
Hard to know the kind of form
players who were playing on that tour are in as they come here.
[announcer 2] Are they competitively sharp?
Have they played enough competition to compete here on this stage?
[applause]
[reporter] How different does it feel being here as a LIV player
playing on a different tour?
For sure, I'd love to, you know, see one of us guys get up
to the top of the leaderboard and really give it a nice shot.
You know, we play and it's still golf, so it doesn't matter where you play at.
[Justin] Yeah, I haven't really talked to any of 'em.
Not too worried about what they're doing,
and just trying to take care of myself.
How you doing? Good to see you.
[Dan] It's a week like this where there's 18 LIV guys
and a bunch of PGA TOUR guys,
all of you guys are intermingling, and it seems like everything is okay.
Has it sort of changed the dynamic between you guys?
It's a very nuanced situation, and there's different dynamics,
and, you know, this week, in this tournament,
all the best players in the world are together again.
I think I'm going to go play nine holes with Brooks here in a little bit.
[indistinct chatter]
-[man] Thanks, Rory. Appreciate your time. -[Rory] Thank you.
[Dylan] When Rory drops that he is playing a practice round with Brooks Koepka,
everyone's like, "What's going on?"
The sight of the two of them playing a practice round at Augusta National,
the biggest week of the golfing year,
when Rory has been the figurehead for the PGA TOUR
and Brooks Koepka is, you know, the greatest modern major champion on LIV…
[indistinct chatter]
[Dylan] There's a lot bubbling just below the surface there.
[dramatic music playing]
[shouts of encouragement]
[applause]
[Rory] They're portrayed as the villains, and we're portrayed as the good guys,
the guys that stayed.
There's certainly a… There's certainly something there.
[chuckles softly]
[man] Everybody kept saying at Augusta the worst thing that can happen
to professional golf is if a LIV player wins a major.
I was keeping receipts. I was.
-[male fan 1] Let's go, Rory. Go get 'em. -[applause]
[male fan 2] Go, Rory.
[Henni] So you've got LIV tour leading voice Brooks Koepka,
PGA TOUR leading voice Rory McIlroy,
and now you've got this "us versus them"
back at the Masters.
What's the saying? "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
[applause]
[applause gets louder]
[Max Homa] Think this works? Pink and blue?
-[man 1] Oh man. Money. -All right? You're not just being nice?
-[man 1] Cash money. -All right. Appreciate you.
-Have a good day. See ya. -[man 1] You too.
[man 2] Well, we got nothing here, TK. Let's, uh…
-See you after. -Gotta smell good, Tommy.
[Tommy] Gotta smell good, yeah.
-Smell good, play good. -[Rory] That's it.
After everything that's happened, the PGA TOUR would love
for one of their own to be the player that steps into the winner's circle.
-[starter] Now driving, Rory McIlroy. -[cheering and applause]
[Amanda] It's very palpable.
It's very real for Rory McIlroy,
considering where he has placed himself in the hierarchy of golf.
[cheering]
[announcer 1] Good afternoon on this Friday
from the Augusta National Golf Club,
second round of the 87th Masters Tournament.
[applause]
[announcer 1] The headlines have been established already
by Brooks Koepka, who's setting the pace.
[announcer 2] We have not seen him play in over a year.
-[announcer 3] What a story this would be. -[announcer 1] What a start for Koepka.
[announcer 2] McIlroy, one of the big stories always coming in here.
Needs to get something going.
[announcer 4] See what Rory can do here.
-[spectators groan] -[announcer 1] Goodness.
[announcer 4] Bad start yesterday. He was quickly over par. Same today.
[announcer 2] He's gonna have to play some great golf
if he wants to make it to the weekend, Ian.
[announcer 3] McIlroy for par.
[shouts of encouragement]
[groans]
[announcer 2] You can see the frustration showing.
That's been the week for Rory.
It is going to be very, very hard for him to make the cut now.
[announcer 1] And Brooks Koepka has this putt for birdie.
[applause]
[announcer 2] That's the look we're used to seeing
from Brooks Koepka at the majors.
[announcer 1] Mm-hmm.
[announcer 2] Said it's a long time since he's felt this good.
[Jena] The majors, there's like a different air
about the room when he's in it.
Like, he's so focused.
No one remembers how many PGA TOUR wins you have on your record.
What they count is how many major wins you have.
[Brooks] It's a grind. Major week's always… always tough.
To be here is special.
If you win one here, it kind of ticks a lot of boxes, doesn't it?
[announcer 5] This for eagle.
[cheering]
[announcer 5] Ten-under for the tournament.
All business.
Brooks.
[applause]
[announcer 1] Rory McIlroy will need to play near flawlessly
coming down the stretch to make the cut.
[spectators groan]
[announcer 5] That's in the water on the left-hand side. Hmm.
[announcer 6] The struggles and frustrations of Rory McIlroy.
[announcer 1] And one of the pre-tournament favorites,
so highly discussed, is not going to make the cut.
[Rory] It was the best opportunity for me to win a major
that I'd had in a long, long time,
but sometimes it just doesn't quite work out.
I was so far from where I thought I should have been.
-[man 1] Rory! -[man 2] Rory!
[Dylan] For Rory to not win the Masters is one thing.
But to miss the cut is just a massive, devastating failure.
[applause]
[Dylan] And then to have Brooks Koepka, a LIV guy, on the top of the leaderboard
just has to make it that much harder to handle.
[announcer 1] Final round of the Masters, two of the biggest brutes in the game
from two different tours going head-to-head.
[Dylan] Going into Masters Sunday, it's almost this unbelievable storyline.
It's one thing for LIV to be lurking in the background,
but if one of their players were to win the Masters,
that would change the entire dynamic of professional golf.
[announcer 1] Pars to start.
[applauding, whistling]
[Rory] Brooks and I are tied on four majors apiece,
so you don't really want someone to go by you.
If it wasn't me that was going to win the Masters,
yeah, I'd probably prefer it to be a PGA TOUR player, honestly.
[announcer 2] And Phil, his chance to be the first birdie here at 12.
[cheering and applause]
[announcer 1] Phil Mickelson making a charge here on this Sunday.
[dramatic music playing]
The narrative on if you went to LIV was you just went for the money,
and you were going to be a fringe golfer.
[announcer 3] And at six, Brooks Koepka.
[spectators groan]
[announcer 1] Just struggled, really.
[Claude Harmon] Everybody said that all of the LIV guys would be insignificant
and nonfactors in the majors because there was no competition on LIV.
[cheering]
[announcer 4] Koepka four behind.
[announcer 5] Rahm can almost feel the jacket on his shoulders.
[Claude] But the narrative that had been being pushed became a false narrative.
[cheering]
[announcer 4] And he posts eight-under.
[Claude] You couldn't then just pretend
that they weren't going to be relevant in professional golf anymore.
The people that were anti-LIV,
they had to look themselves in the mirror and go,
"Okay, now what?"
[cheering]
[announcer 1] Brooks Koepka will share second with Phil Mickelson.
[applause]
[cheering]
[announcer 1] Rahm wins the Masters marathon.
[Rory] I was relieved that Brooks didn't go
to five major titles and I was still stuck at four,
but at the same time, it would be dealing with the LIV bots
and the media and all that stuff
is what would have been absolutely horrific.
[chuckles]
[reporter 1] Brooks, I know you probably don't like the LIV questions,
but, I mean, what do you guys think you proved this week?
[Brooks] I know if I'm healthy, I know I can compete.
I don't think any of the guys that play this event thought otherwise either.
Um, when Phil plays good, they know he's going to compete.
P. Reed, same thing.
Um, I think that's just manufactured by the media
that we can't compete anymore, we were washed-up.
[reporter 2] Was there competition with the guys from the other tour?
[Phil Mickelson] I'm happy where I'm at. I wanted something different.
That's what this is doing for me at LIV.
It's not for everybody, but it's been awesome for me.
[cameras clicking]
[Dan] The LIV guys showed at Augusta that they're not going anywhere.
You just had three of the top six in the biggest tournament in the world
are LIV guys.
It's hard to argue that they're not still incredible players
who are capable of performing at a world-class level.
It's no different just because they went to a different tour.
-[man 1] Just gonna drop it on your bag. -[Rory] Yup.
-[man 1] Make a little opening. -[man 2] Always wanted to be on Netflix.
-It's not all it's cracked up to be. -[woman] Rory!
[chuckles] I'm joking, I'm joking.
-Rory. How dare you, Rory? -[woman] I can't believe you said that.
[chuckles]
-[woman] Take it back and redo it. -You don't need to put that in it.
It's fine. [chuckles]
-[man 3] Perfect. Good to go. -[man 2] There you go.
-[man 3] Y'all ready? -[man 2] Okay. I gotta ask.
Okay, the Masters this year.
There was a guy who I swear
looked 99% like you.
-[man 4] Eighty. -[man 5] This was…?
[Tyler] This was on Thursday.
[man 4] He was desperate for your attention for sure.
If it was on the weekend, it actually could've been me.
[laughter]
[Tyler chuckles] No. It was not.
-[laughter] -[Tyler] It was not.
[Rory] I felt like I went into that Masters playing really well.
Felt almost as confident as ever going into that tournament,
and just laid an egg.
I played like dog shit that week.
What's up, GolfPass? You got Dude Perfect, Rory McIlroy.
We've got a fun little challenge set up today.
[Rory] I had to ask myself a lot of questions.
Playing golf and having all the other stuff
that I'm involved with, it's a full-time job.
It's sort of all-consuming at the minute.
You get fatigued of it. You get fatigued of answering the same questions.
And it's… it's so difficult.
How do you feel after that?
-[man] Gotta be tiring. -Pretty tiring.
-Is it? -Yeah.
[Tyler] Nice little 12-pack?
[Amanda] I think it's so rare that PGA TOUR players take on
the type of responsibility that we've seen Rory McIlroy take on.
[photographer] Smile. Big smile. How about no smile for one? Good.
[Amanda] How can he be so invested
into what's going on between LIV and the PGA TOUR
and still go out there and beat the other 150 best players in the world?
That's just not a sustainable place to live
with an already full plate and then that added responsibility
of really putting the PGA TOUR on your back.
[Rory] So, the podcast selection. Shotgun Start, Huberman Lab.
You got Disney's Encanto, which is Poppy's favorite.
And then you've got DJ Khaled mix.
Yeah, there you go.
There's a little look into what I listen to every day in the car.
With everything that's went on
in the golf world over the past 12 or 18 months,
there's been times where,
I guess, my attention or my focus has been taken away
from, uh…
from what… I really need to focus on.
Last few weeks on the golf course hasn't been what I have wanted,
but getting ready for the second major championship of the year
coming up at Oak Hills.
All eyes have been on me for a long time anyway. It's not new.
I'd much rather be in this scenario
than no one give a shit about what I'm doing, so, yeah…
[chuckles]
We have yet another amazing guest here on BS.
A legend, Brooks Koepka, in the building, ladies and gentlemen.
One of the best golfers of our generation.
Can you… can you tell us, like, how big the LIV contract was?
It was good. It was good.
[Jake] Like, nine… eight figures, nine figures?
It was nine.
-[Jake chuckles] -Yeah.
For those who don't, uh, can't count,
that's, like, 100 million or more.
Yep. Yep. It was, uh, it was pretty good. I was very happy with it. Put it that way.
No, that's amazing.
Does that create contentment now for you, or does it make you wanna work harder?
If I got a fucking nine-figure contract, I wouldn't… I'd just fuck off.
To me, it's all majors. I think that's what you're defined by, right?
I wanna try to get to double digits.
I think I can get 10, 12. Um, I think that's realistic.
That's what keeps me going, and that's the fun.
[indistinct chatter]
Do you have any, like, tips or…?
-Just hit it as hard as you can. -[Jake] All right.
[laughs]
[laughter]
[Jake] Who said he was gonna do that?
[Brooks] The tee! The tee!
[indistinct chatter]
[laughs loudly]
Honestly, I've never seen that. That was very impressive.
That was one of the coolest shit I've ever seen on a golf course.
That's what I meant to do.
I just took out the tee, right?
[man] Three-seventy!
[indistinct chatter]
[Dylan] You get a sense that the momentum has shifted a little bit.
The LIV guys are walking around with a little bit more swagger.
[man 1] Putt!
-[man 2] Yes! Yes! -[man 3] Go!
[cheering]
Let's go!
-[man 1] Just won a major. -[Brooks] Wow.
Get the fuck outta my face.
[laughter]
[Dylan] Before the Masters, people weren't sure
how the LIV golfers would perform.
But the Masters made everyone realize
that it's not a matter of if a LIV guy at some point wins a major.
It's a matter of when.
Cash in now, fellas! Cash in now!
-Right. -Let's turn it in.
Pay up.
[dramatic music playing]
It'd give me a heart attack just to park in this thing.
What's up, Collin?
I can't run over Phil Mickelson.
That'd be a bad start to the week.
[Henni] The PGA Championship, that's the second major of the year.
A lot of questions have been answered at the Masters.
[boy] DJ! DJ!
The LIV golfers have undoubtedly proved
that they can compete at the major level.
That sends a huge message to the rest of the golfing world.
We think that Brooks is gonna be riding the crest of his wave.
But how's Rory McIlroy going to be feeling?
He's got points to prove.
He has questions that need to be answered.
[reporter 1] How long does it take to get over the hangover
of something like Augusta?
Where's your… where's your game at now?
Look, golf is golf, and it happens, and you're gonna have bad days.
And, you know, I still believe that I'm one of the best players in the world,
and, you know, I can produce good golf to… to have a chance of… of winning this week.
[reporter 2] We're coming up on the anniversary
of the first LIV Golf tournament.
If you could look into your crystal ball, maybe, say, three years from now,
where do you think the pro game will be?
I don't have a crystal ball.
[reporter 2 laughs] Don't wanna speculate?
No.
[man] Thanks for your time today. We appreciate it.
[tense music playing]
[Dan] Right now, it feels like the world has flipped on its head for Rory.
Golf is hard enough as it is, and when you add all of this off-the-course stuff,
the game can become almost impossible.
We all thought this was gonna be Rory's year,
but you can't be a golfer and a politician at the same time.
[man] Rory!
[woman] Next one. Pull back.
Then that one, pull back.
Towards you.
[indistinct background chatter]
-So weird we're playing together. -I know.
-I… I mean, it's like an annual thing. -[man] PGA champions playing together?
-I know. -[man] That's so bizarre.
[indistinct chatter]
After Augusta, I was pretty pissed at the coverage that got.
-[woman] Hi, Brooks. -[Brooks] How's it going?
Jilien Harvey from the PGA. Welcome. Thanks for coming.
I'll walk you down.
[indistinct conversation]
[Rory] Does it legitimize LIV?
Probably.
But it still doesn't change the fact that it is what it is.
[photographer] Justin and Rory, both of you slide this way a little bit.
One, two…
[Rory] I don't think it gave LIV the spike that they thought
that it was gonna give it.
[photographer] Justin, this way just a little bit. Great.
[Justin] The relationship between TOUR guys and LIV guys is weird.
That's gotten a little chippier and chippier.
There's plenty of guys on that tour that I didn't talk to before
and I still have no desire to talk to,
but it's not because of that decision.
It just may help with it a little bit.
[photographer] Last one. One, two, three.
Perfect. Thank you all very much.
[indistinct chatter]
[indistinct chatter continues]
[man] Welcome, everybody. So, I don't know if you know a lot about the history,
but there have been 71 champions of this event,
which you should all be proud to be part of.
We've got a great defending champion, Justin.
[applause]
Thank you, John. Uh, yeah, I'm…
I'm very excited, obviously, to be… be hosting this.
Um, it's just a very cool night. I know all of us can reminisce and share stories,
and I personally wanted to have a cheers to Mito Pereira,
because this would not happen without him, so…
[laughter]
Thank you all again. This is unbelievable to be hosting tonight.
And, uh, let's have a great time.
-Cheers. -Cheers.
[indistinct chatter]
[Brooks] Thank you guys for a great dinner, JT. Thanks.
It's been fun to sit around with a bunch of you guys, reflect,
and have some cool stories and see everybody and, um…
Let's everybody have a good week.
-Yeah. -Hear! Hear!
[indistinct chatter]
[dramatic music playing]
[announcer 1] Good morning from Western New York.
The 105th playing of the PGA Championship.
I'm a professional athlete.
He… There's not one professional athlete in that body right there.
Let me see something.
[laughs] All right. You're right.
See? Look what I can do.
-[fan 1] Rory! -[fan 2] Come on, Rory!
[announcer 2] Rory McIlroy most recently in a major championship missed the cut.
[Rory] The nice thing about golf
is there's always the next week or the next tournament or the next major,
and I've always sort of prided myself on how I've bounced back
from… from some of those, you know, bad rounds or bad tournaments.
[announcer 1] The name of the hole is "Breather."
-Don't tell that to Rory. -[announcer 2] Hmm.
-[cheering] -[announcer 1] Wow!
-[announcer 2] Oh my gosh. -[announcer 1] Now he can take a breath.
Who knows, maybe that'll get him started.
[strikes ball]
-[Bryson] Sit! -[cheering and applause]
-[announcer 1] Best of the day by a lot. -[announcer 2] By far.
[announcer 1] What a round for DeChambeau.
-Solo leader. -[cheering and applause]
[announcer 3] DJ from long range.
[shouts of encouragement]
[announcer 2] I'd say the pace was pretty good.
[cheering and applause]
[announcer 1] Dustin Johnson joins DeChambeau at the top of the leaderboard.
[announcer 1] Second round underway on this beautiful Friday in Rochester.
-And McIlroy… -[announcer 2] Could sure use something.
[shouts of encouragement]
-[announcer 2] That's something! -[cheering and applause]
[announcer 1] Brooks Koepka from just off the edge.
[cheering]
[announcer 1] Don't think this man is going anywhere.
[announcer 3] Brooks Koepka. How about it?
[announcer 2] For birdie.
Koepka!
[cheering and applause]
[announcer 2] Climbing up that leaderboard.
[Rory] Morning.
-Chilly. -[woman chuckles]
[announcer] He's just too good. Six top fives for Xander.
Ready for a major challenge…
-[woman] You need a hat, Rory. -I'm… That's what I'm getting out.
-I'm getting a hat. -[woman chuckles]
-Your head must be freezing. -Is my hair…
Is my fluffy hair not enough to keep me warm?
Your fluffy hair looks great, I've gotta say. [chuckles]
[announcer 1] It is rainy. It might get worse.
Buckle up.
You know someone's going to play well.
[announcer 2] Got a feeling about Rory today doing something special.
[man shouts] In the hole!
[announcer 3] That is a bad miss there.
[dramatic music playing]
[spectators groan]
[announcer 4] He teases you, McIlroy, doesn't he? Great start.
Could throw it all away back here, though.
[indistinct chatter]
It was so hard to get momentum, yeah.
It's hard to go out there and shoot… 66.
[shouts of encouragement]
[cheering]
[announcer 4] He's a major machine.
[announcer 1] Sixty-six for the second straight day.
And Brooks Koepka
will go into that last day with the lead.
[interviewer] I love what you said after the Masters.
You said, "I figured out the mistakes I made, and I won't make 'em again."
What were those mistakes, and how can you apply that to tomorrow?
I can't give away my secrets.
-[interviewer] Just one? -No.
We look forward to trying to figure it out tomorrow as we watch you play.
-Thank you so much. -Thanks.
[interviewer] Will you tell me off camera?
I can't tell you.
[laughter]
-[interviewer] Thanks, Brooks. -Love you too, guys.
Yep.
-[man] Fun to watch. -[Brooks] Yep.
-[man] Feel good? -[Brooks] Yeah.
-[man] Awesome. -[Brooks] Felt good.
[dramatic music playing]
[announcer 1] It is a beautiful Sunday morning here in Western New York.
[indistinct background chatter]
All right.
[Justin] I hit a drive on nine today that missed for my 700th fairway.
Oh, there's a crack in your driver. I was watching.
Right down the middle, like this.
-[fan 1] 'Sup, Brooks? -[fan 2] Go, Brooksie!
[applause]
[reporter] Brooks, how much would another major title mean to you
at this point in your career?
[Brooks] It would mean a lot.
I think a major championship would mean a lot to anybody, so…
if I handle my business out here, everything will take care of itself.
To win a major is always a big deal no matter where you're playing.
[dramatic music playing]
[Claude] If the next phase of Brooks's journey
is winning another major
after catastrophic injuries,
after a large portion of the golfing public writing him off
for going to LIV,
to come back and basically say, "Fuck you, I've now won my fifth,"
that's a hell of a story.
[spectators shouting]
[announcer 2] This is the second major in a row
where he's held the outright 54-hole lead.
That hasn't happened since McIlroy back in 2011.
[announcer 1] McIlroy is sitting here five back, and like Brooks Koepka,
he's looking for a fifth career major.
[Rory] Doesn't matter how big your lead is.
People can always come from behind.
The more times you can put yourself in with a chance
in the back nine on a Sunday…
[shouts of encouragement]
…anything is possible.
[spectators groan]
[spectators shouting]
[Rory] It's a spiral.
When you've got momentum, things are going your way,
the spiral works upward.
But if things… you know, you get an un… unlucky break,
you hit a shot that you thought was going to be good and it didn't end up good…
Sit!
…it just starts sort of going the other way a little bit.
[announcer 3] Another one of those days.
But really, focus back on the final group.
Let's go, Brooks.
-Get 'em, Brooks. -Let's go!
[announcer 3] One of the toughest par-3s on the course here at three.
[applause]
[announcer 4] And that is the shot of a four-time major champion.
[cheering]
[announcer 2] I fear he's going to be very hard to beat.
[announcer 1] Here's Koepka for another birdie.
On fire.
[cheering and applause]
[announcer 2] "Catch me if you can," says Koepka.
[spectators groan]
[announcer 2] Another narrow miss. Bad par there for Rory.
[Brooks] Failure's how you learn. It's more mentality than it is anything.
[announcer 2] Oh, advantage, Koepka.
A spectacular shot there.
[Brooks] If you can do that, you'll be miles ahead of everybody else.
[announcer 1] Rory's in with a third consecutive round of 69.
[applause]
[announcer 2] Disappointing for Rory.
[Rory] But it's not that. I mean, I…
I fucking shit myself and left pins.
I, like, I'm not…
Like, my, like, technique is nowhere near as good as it used to be.
[indistinct chatter]
[Rory] I almost feel like I wanna do a complete reboot.
-Almost? -[Rory] No, I do, I do.
'Cause it's the only way I feel like I'm gonna break through.
I think differently. What do you want?
[Rory] But it is, like, Sean. It is.
Like, it feels so far away.
I'm not at the stage of my life
where I feel like I can come out and be doing these two-week boot camps.
Like, I feel…
Like, I feel good enough to be, like, fucking top ten in my head,
but not good enough to win.
-Like, pull away? -[Rory] Like, pull away.
Like, winning fucking majors.
You know, like…
You know, and…
The pressure I was feeling to be this sort of spokesman or this leader,
I think that was part of the problem.
I just was disappointed and wanted to get away from it.
[announcer 1] Back at 12.
[announcer 5] It's Koepka away.
[announcer 6] Seems like every year there's a momentum putt,
one that you remember.
This could be that one.
-[fan 1] Let's go. Wrap it up. -[fan 2] Pasta's getting cold.
-[announcer 3] Absolutely perfect. -[cheering]
♪ Me and my boys make major moves Still the same ones I came with ♪
♪ Uppin' the payment Toy, you be nothin' to play with ♪
♪ Guess some things unchangeable Me and my thirst insatiable ♪
♪ Till we all big time Face on my Rollie… ♪
[announcer 1] What a personal comeback story this is.
All the doubt that he had in his mind.
You may have seen him on Full Swing.
Never seen a guy lacking so much confidence with so much pedigree.
But he's a different guy now. He's back to who he was.
[applause]
[cheering]
-♪ Run it up ♪ -♪ Whoa! ♪
-♪ Run it up, run it up, run it up ♪ -♪ Yeah! Whoa! ♪
♪ Nothing can stop me… ♪
[announcer 1] Koepka conquers the PGA at Oak Hill.
[cheering]
[inaudible]
[applause]
♪ Nothing can stop me… ♪
[cheering]
[laughter]
-[fan] Hell yeah, baby! -Let's go!
-[fan] Hell yeah! -That's what I'm fucking talking about!
[indistinct comments]
[PGA official] The 2023 PGA Champion, Brooks Koepka.
[cheering]
[Brooks] If I look back to where we were two years ago,
I'm just so happy right now, I'm kind of at a loss for words,
but this is… this is just the coolest thing.
[cheering]
[Brooks] Feels good to be back and get number five.
Scottie, nice finish. Good week.
Fuck. Someone in my era has got more majors than I have.
Five!
[Rory] It's hard for me not to define myself
as one of the best golfers in the world,
so when you struggle like that, you feel a little lost,
but I think it was a wake-up call
for me to say, "Let's just focus on the golf for a little bit."
Brooks!
-Brooks! -Yeah?
Well done. I'm really happy for you. Enjoy it.
Good job, Brooks.
-See you, boys. -See ya.
-[Brooks] I'll give you a shout later. -Yeah.
[man] Good win.
[Dan] Koepka's win is a massive blow
to this narrative that LIV Golf is just going to go away,
that it can basically be ignored.
And now that a LIV golfer has won a major championship,
the question becomes, "Where do we go from here?"
[sportscaster 1] Some serious breaking news from the world of golf.
And not something that people expected.
[sportscaster 2] The PGA TOUR and European Tour today announced a merger
with LIV Golf.
[sportscaster 3] The golf world,
the biggest names in the sport, were stunned.
I don't think anybody saw this coming.
What happened?
[Justin] "What the fuck?" That was…
I mean, I think that was the first words out of a lot of people's mouths.
What the fuck just happened?
Just… chaos.
You don't really know what's happening.
What is happening?
All of a sudden, you get slapped in the face.
[Rory] Why did I just waste 12 months of my life to fight for something
that was always gonna come back together again?
I'm almost to where it's like, "Fuck it, do what you wanna do."
[reporter] Welcome, Jay and Yasir.
Just this picture alone is going to surprise a lot of people.
[Dylan] For guys on the PGA TOUR, things just got a lot more confusing.
But for some of these guys on LIV,
they're feeling like maybe they got this right.
[Dan] Rickie Fowler was always rumored to go to LIV.
He turned down life-changing sums of money.
[Dylan] But for that choice to pay off,
he's going to have to play really good golf,
and right now he's not doing that.
It's a grind out there.
Going through this struggle for the last few years…
Go, Rickie!
[Rickie] …I know that I can be in a better place.
[announcer] Rickie Fowler makes history at LA Country Club.
[dramatic music playing] makes history at LA Country Club.