AUGUSTA, Ga. — Caddie-Gate continued Friday as LIV Golf stud Brooks Koepka and his bag man, Rickie Elliott, remained under scrutiny for what appeared to be an obvious rules violation in the first round of the Masters on Thursday. Koepka led the tournament at 12-under, but there was a good argument that he should have stood at 10.
After Koepka hit a 5-iron onto the 15th green, Elliott mouthed the word “five” twice as Gary Woodland’s caddie, Brennan “Butchie” Little, walked past and looked directly at him. A moment later, as Koepka removed his glove, he appeared to flash all five fingers at Woodland and Little.
Giving advice to a competitor is a two-stroke penalty.
The tournament’s competition committee Thursday reviewed the tape as it interviewed the group about Elliott mouthing the word “five,” but determined there was no wrongdoing. Koepka on Thursday insisted Woodland remained ignorant of Koepka’s club selection after they both birdied the hole and walked off the 15th green.
The incident sparked a compelling sparring match by Golf Channel analysts Paul McGinley and Brandel Chamblee, both retired professionals, on Thursday night. McGinley, a former Ryder Cup captain for Europe, said players and caddies routinely ignore the rule and exchange information. Chamblee said he’d never done that, refuted McGinley’s claim that the practice is commonplace, and called on Koepka to self-assess the penalty to avoid any appearance of impropriety.
Koepka did just the opposite. He doubled down.
He claimed Elliott was telling a TV spotter which club Koepka hit, a common occurrence at televised tournaments. Woodland and his caddie just happened to be be in the way. Coincidentally.
“He was signaling to somebody of what it was. It wasn’t Butchie,” Koepka said ... then strayed from his storyline from Thursday: “Because they asked us what we hit walking down the fairway.”
Thursday’s version had Woodland asking Koepka which club he’d hit as he departed the green, not as they walked down the fairway.
After Friday’s round Koepka again was asked to review the tape, this time to determine if he’d intentionally flashed the number five to Woodland or his caddie.
“I’m taking my glove off,” he explained. “The last thing I’m going to do is give (advice) to Gary Woodland, the (2019) U.S. Open champ.”
Koepka, 32, was 7-under after the first round, tied for the lead, and in a much better frame of mind after Round 2 this year than last, when, still recovering from injuries, he missed the 4-over cut line by two shots.
“I tried to break the back window with my fist of the car. I tried to put it through the back window, not once but twice. First time didn’t go, so figured try it again,” Koepka said. “I guess Mercedes makes a pretty good back window.”
Koepka topping the leaderboard was something of a coup for LIV, the renegade tour that paid Koepka and other stars like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Cameron Smith hundreds of millions of dollars to forfeit their PGA Tour futures and join the controversial Saudi-run circuit.
Koepka has battled injuries for two years. LIV signed him in June, in the midst of those battles, when he was unsure if he’d ever be competitive again. Had he been healthy and competitive on the PGA Tour, would he have had a tougher decision regarding LIV?
“Yeah, probably, if I’m being completely honest. I think it would have been,” he said. “But I’m happy with the decision I made.”
