Self-love is all the rage right now, even in professional golf. Look no further than yesterday at the Shriners Children’s Open, where Cameron Champ, after shooting a first-round 63, said part of the reason he’s played better lately is because he’s “loving himself out there”. Clearly, it’s working for him.
But a little bit of self-hate can go a long ways, too. Golf is a game ripe for self hate, as everything that happens is completely on you. Some of the best players in the world have to give themselves a stern talking to sometimes. Players like Brooks Koepka, who dropped an all-time self-deprecating line overnight at LIV Jeddah.
Koepka, sitting at three-under and just two shots off the lead at the time, was hitting his second from a greenside bunker at the short par-4 17th at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club. It was the type of situation where an up-and-down birdie is almost assumed for a player of his calibre, and anything less is giving away shots to the field. That’s exactly what Koepka did, fatting the sand shot about 10 paces short and missing a ridge that would have fed his ball towards the hole. “Oh you F–KING dumbass,” Koepka could be heard saying on a hot mic:
Brooks is all of us, tbh pic.twitter.com/9Bz99bB8yw
— Cameron Jourdan (@Cam_Jourdan) October 13, 2023
Who among us hasn’t said the exact same thing after a shot like this? Sometimes there is nothing else to say. Self-love is certainly important, but counter-balancing it with some self-hate isn’t a bad idea, either.
And guess what? It must have worked, because after saving par there, Koepka stole one last birdie on his final hole to post four-under, putting him one behind the lead of Marc Leishman.
