Rory McIlroy won 2019 Player of the Year and edged out Brooks Koepka for the award last month.
The 30-year-old beat the 29-year-old in the player-voted contest… but don’t call it a rivalry.
“I’ve been out here for, what, five years. Rory hasn’t won a major since I’ve been on the PGA Tour. So I just don’t view it as a rivalry,” Koepka told AFP ahead of his defense of the CJ Cup in Jeju, South Korea which begins on Thursday.
“I’m not looking at anybody behind me,” Koepka said. “I’m number one in the world. I’ve got an open road in front of me I’m not looking in the rearview mirror, so I don’t see it as a rivalry.”
To be clear, McIlroy is ranked No. 2 in the world while Koepka sits squarely at No. 1.
McIlroy’s last major win was the 2014 PGA Championship (his fourth major). Koepka also has four majors, most recently winning the 2018 PGA Championship.
McIlroy is more consistent across all PGA Tour competitions, finishing 2019 with the lowest scoring average of any golfer. But Koepka shines on golf’s biggest stages — he finished in the top 4 in all majors last year.
