"My hands were shaking pretty good" - Brooks Koepka recalls the time when Ryder Cup nerves got to him 

A golf veteran like Brooks Koepka who has won multiple Majors doesn't experience nerve issues very often, but the Ryder Cup is arguably one of the biggest competitions in golf. As a result, even the most steeled golfers experience issues from time to time.

That includes Koepka, even though this upcoming appearance will mark his third time in the tournament. He admitted to having serious issues due to his nervousness about the competition in an interview with Taylor Zarzour on SiriusXM Ryder Cup Radio.

He said about his first-ever appearance on the team:

"I went down to go tee the ball on the first hole. It was probably a quarter inch too high, but there was no chance I was going to go down and tap it down with the driver... because if that ball fell off, it was never getting back on the tee. My hands were shaking pretty good, so."

Zarzour mentioned that it was shocking for Koepka, who has won Majors and other massive events, to display any sort of nerves. He chalked it up to the Ryder Cup just being that much more special for those involved.

Koepka is the lone representative of LIV Golf in the Ryder Cup. On Zach Johnson's American side and Luke Donald's European team, Koepka is the only one from the rebel tour. Everyone else is from the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour.

That might add a bit of pressure, but Koepka is equipped to deal with it. In fact, he does not even consider himself a representative of LIV but the USA. He said:

"I feel like I’m representing the USA. That’s what I’ve got on the front of my hat this week, so that’s what I’m representing. It's not a group of individuals in that locker room. We're just all one team, and that's the way we think. That's what I believe, and I'm pretty sure everybody else there thinks that."

The United States will tee off against Europe on Friday (September 29).

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The Ryder Cup looks different this year

Brooks Koepka is the lone LIV Golfer

The semi-annual golf tournament does not have the same form it usually does. There are a few longtime standouts of teams that are not present, most of which are caused by their defection to LIV Golf.

Brooks Koepka is the only one, though he doesn't believe his companions didn't make it because of the tour.

Touching on this topic, Rory McIlroy said that those who left now see that they are "not missed" by the Ryder Cup:

"I think this week of all weeks, its going to hit home with them that they are not here and I think they are going to miss being here more than we’re missing them…. I think this week is a realization that the decision that they made has led to not being a part of this week, and that’s tough," he admitted in a pre-tournament press conference.

Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are not on Team Europe even though they have been some of the longest-tenured members. Captain Luke Donald replaced Henrik Stenson after he defected.

Dustin Johnson implied that his choice to leave the PGA Tour is the only reason he did not make it. Regardless, there are not many old, familiar faces at the Ryder Cup.