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By Kent Gray
Being Brooks Koepka hasn’t been too shabby this past fortnight. After pocketing a cool €130,278 for a T-9 finish at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship – not including his undisclosed appearance fee – the world No.2 headed straight for Saudi Arabia to continue his guest for golfing immortality – via a week in the Maldives with PGA Tour pal Dustin Johnson and their respective partners that is.

It seems DJ and Paulina Gretzky and Brooks and Jena Sims had quite the time in the Indian Ocean paradise. There is social media evidence but lets just say there was a little too much cheek to share it on this family-friendly forum. We’ll let you do the research if you so desire.

But elite golf is not all play and no hard work; Koepka and Johnson are back at it this week at the European Tour’s new $3.5 million Saudi International event and won’t have it easy in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), especially not with Bryson DeChambeau flying in from Dubai with the Desert Classic in his bag and world No.1 Justin Rose fresh, albeit probably horribly jet-lagged, from victory at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego.

Throw in Ryder Cup villain Patrick Reed and the likes of Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter and a resurgent Ernie Els into the mix, and the focus of the golfing world, for sporting and geopolitical reasons, will be on Royal Greens Golf & Country Club. That has Koepka, who struggled to get his game out of first gear at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, fired up to kick-start 2019 after claiming two of his three major titles last year.

“I always want to play against the world’s best players as it helps to sharpen my game,” said the 28-year-old Floridian.

“I enjoy the intensity of coming down the back nine on Sunday with a chance to win and that is even better when you are playing against the likes of my good friend DJ, Justin [Rose] or Henrik [Stenson],  the list goes on.

“I started my career on the Challenge Tour in Europe and then the European Tour before going to the PGA Tour and I really believe that playing in different environments and experiencing new cultures helped broaden my horizons as both a player and a person. I love visiting new countries.”

Indeed, the Saudi International powered by SBIA will serve as an early-season form barometer ahead of this year’s big events, which now see three majors and two World Golf Championship (WGC) events before the end of June. With much to play, a maiden appearance in Saudi Arabia is a challenge Koepka is relishing.

“One of my main goals for 2018 was to win multiple times and be one of those players that does that consistently every year. Last year was amazing, winning two majors was a dream come true and certainly something I wasn’t expecting earlier in the year when I was injured.

“Historically I’ve warmed up through the year and have won more of my events later in the season. I had a good break in the off-season and I’m feeling good mentally and ready to play well again. I’ll be doing everything I can to pick up some silverware and get the ball rolling as early as possible. To be the first person to win the Saudi International would be pretty special.”