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Brooks, Chase Koepka recall early memories of Honda Classic, WPTV

Professional golfers share brotherly bond, as well as competitiveness
Posted at 7:17 PM, Feb 24, 2022
and last updated 2022-02-24 19:54:41-05

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — At very early ages, Brooks and Chase Koepka seemed at home on the golf course.

"What are some of your earliest memories playing golf together?" WPTV's Kelley Dunn asked the brothers.

"For me, it was probably going out to Okeeheelee (Park)," Brooks Koepka recalled. "I think that was the big thing That's kind of where we fell in love with it. … Our parents would drop us off before they'd go to work, so we'd be out there at, like, 7:30 in the morning and be playing until it was almost dark."

In those days, golf was an obsession, but their parents were committed to giving them every shot.

Brooks Koepka as child at Okeeheelee Park
A young Brooks Koepka poses with his golf clubs at Okeeheelee Park.

"Sometimes they would pick us up on one of the holes that ran right next to the road because we'd be out there playing so late," Chase Koepka said. "Or the starter would come out and say, 'Hey, Brooks and Chase, your mom or dad's here.'"

Golf would quickly consume their lives.

"We just didn't want to stop playing," Chase said. "That was probably what kept us super competitive growing up."

"Even when you were little golfers, it was that competitive back then?" Dunn asked.

"It was competitive in anything we ever did," Brooks said, laughing.

"Him and I, we would just go battle it out all day every day, whether it was for a Coke or something like that," Chase said.

The stakes are much higher at PGA National Resort & Spa this weekend as Brooks, 31, and younger brother Chase, 28, compete in the Honda Classic, where Dunn got to spend some time with the professional golfers she's known since their births.

Brooks and Chase remembered serving as standard bearers at the Honda Classic.

Brooks and Chase Koepka as kids serving as standard bearers at Honda Classic
A young Brooks and Chase Koepka pose for a photograph at hole 16 at the Honda Classic.

"It was always nice for us when we were kids," Brooks said.

"That was probably our first taste of professional golf, I would say this is probably the tournament that got us interested in thinking, like, 'Oh, we could probably do this for a living,'" Chase added.

Supporting them the whole way were their parents, Bob and Sherry Koepka and Denise Jakows, a longtime WPTV anchor.

Denise Jakows holds Brooks Koepka as baby at WPTV
Longtime WPTV anchor Denise Jakows poses for a photo with her baby boy, Brooks Koepka, while at work.

"I would say, honestly, the most or the earliest memory I have is probably there was like a channel 5, it was a Christmas thing, right?" Brooks Koepka said.

That was the annual reading of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," a tradition for all employees and their children.

"Sixteen, 20 kids running around at channel 5 behind the set," he recalled.

Who knew that two of those kids would become famous faces?

After graduating from Cardinal Newman High School, Brooks went on to play golf at Florida State University, where he was a three-time All-American for the Seminoles. He began his professional career in 2012 and eventually became the world's No. 1-ranked golfer in 2018.

Brooks won back-to-back U.S. Opens in 2017 and 2018 and consecutive PGA Championships in 2018 and 2019 -- the same year he tied for runner-up at the Masters.

Chase had a successful college career, winning four tournaments while playing at the University of South Florida. He began his professional career in 2016 but remains in search of his first win.

Brooks said he still receives regular updates from his mom about Dunn and her children, but he admits it's different now that everyone is grown up.

Brooks and Chase Koepka pose for photo with Kelley Dunn at 2022 Honda Classic
Brooks and Chase Koepka pose for a photograph with WPTV's Kelley Dunn during a practice session before the start of the Honda Classic, Feb. 23, 2022, at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

"You still picture them as little kids," he said.

"We all still picture all of you as little kids," Dunn said.

Although they're not little anymore, one thing hasn't changed.

"The older we got, we realized how much they definitely did sacrifice for us," Chase said of his parents. "Anytime that they could get free time, I mean, they were pretty much spent out watching us playing golf or just driving us to the course. So there were countless hours that they just gave up for us and they just wanted us to chase our dreams."

Brooks said he and his brother "weren't the country club kid that everyone thinks or that you see a lot out here."

"It was a little bit different, but at the same time, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way," he said. "It kind of makes your hungrier I think when you don't have something and felt like I always had to prove myself and work harder."

The Koepka brothers have been driven, determined and passionate about golf almost since the day they were born.