It’s a question that’s getting some talk during Masters week given that he won two majors last year: why did Brooks Koepka go on a diet?
When first mentioned, it sounded like a health matter. On Tuesday Koepka revealed the recent end to a 1,800-calorie-a-day diet and mentioned blood tests and staying out of the gym as his energy levels have come back.
“Just had a bunch of blood work and trying to figure out what was going on. The diet I was on was probably not the best,” Koepka said.
“I was like 1,800 calories a day. I mean, you’re not going to be in the best physical shape at that point. You look at somebody like Michael Phelps or somebody like that eating 6,000 or 7,000 calories by lunch time. But I wanted to do it and try to lose some weight, and maybe went about it a little too aggressively for just a long period of time and the intensity of what I was doing.”
One possible reason for Koepka’s intense effort to get lean. According to reports, the famously buff golfer will appear in the buff in ESPN’s Body Issue, which will be released later this summer.
Golfers know the history of the sport has seen players transform their bodies in short time with poor results, but as Brandel Chamblee notes Tuesday night on Live From, this one may be unprecedented in sports history given Koepka’s recent form.
“For him to change his body and his body chemistry for vanity reasons for a vanity shoot is the most reckless self-sabotage that I have ever seen of an athlete in his prime,” Chamblee said.
