Mar 26, 2022; Austin, Texas, USA; Brooks Koepka tees off on the 6th hole during the fourth round of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

Brooks Koepka has in the past taken offense at being left off the pre-tournament press conference schedule. Or, more accurately, Brooks has manufactured offense as a way to play with anger.

At Southern Hills for the PGA Championship this week, though, Koepka was always going to be on the schedule as a two-time former champion. Ironically, though, he almost took himself off the schedule after doing one of the more relatable things a super-wealthy professional golfer can do.

Locking keys in a vehicle, especially a running vehicle, is a uniquely frustrating feeling. It shouldn’t really be possible with keyless ignition vehicles, which allow the doors to be opened when they’re in proximity of the car.

But pretty much every time I’ve locked keys in a car in the last ten years it’s been one of those setups, either someone else’s car or a rental (I’m a writer, my car isn’t fancy enough for a wireless key.) What makes it easy to do, I’ve found, is exactly what probably happened to Brooks here: if you take the keys out of your pocket (often necessary for comfort as those fobs tend to be huge) it becomes very easy to forget to grab them again if you exit the vehicle.

When real keys are dangling from an ignition, that’s less of a concern. I also have a habit of locking my car every time I step out of it. The issue, though, is that I grooved a habit of doing so by pressing the auto-lock button on the door on my way out, as opposed to using the remote fob every time; obviously the latter would mean noticing I didn’t have it with me.

So, yeah, it’s really easy to do, and there aren’t many solutions beyond “wait for person with other fob to arrive” unless you have some kind of remote service, which would be unlikely for a courtesy car setup.

Anyway, Koepka eventually made it to Southern Hills, where he delivered his press conference, even weighing in on the main non-Phil pre-tournament topic of discussion:

Working in his sponsor Michelob while offering the media both a fun soundbite and a solid story to tell about why he was late? Koepka is truly in major championship form.

About Jay Rigdon

Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.