Brooks Koepka made Rory McIlroy call before Masters win - 'People won't like this'

star candidly admitted he wanted to get "one-up" on before his rival secured on the weekend. Koepka was desperately out of sorts at Augusta National, missing the cut on five-over after two rounds, and could only watch on as the Northern Irishman completed his career Grand Slam.

It means McIlroy is now tied with the American on five major titles. Relations between the pair have previously been spiky as they vied for supremacy at big tournaments. Koepka's defection to LIV was also one of the first major signings for the Saudi-backed tour, with McIlroy initially a vociferous critic of the players who joined.

In a pre-Masters appearance on the golf.com YouTube channel, Koepka appeared to further stoke fires. He was asked, if he could only choose one golfer to play with for the rest of his career, which one would he choose?

"Most people will probably hate this answer," he admitted. "But like Rory, right? Because I feel like maybe, divulging a lot...... there's a competition (between us) and I'm sure he's maybe that way too. It's like, okay, I've got to get one more than him."

As well as implying he relished the challenge of trying to stay ahead of McIlroy, Koepka also conceded he wants more major titles than the world No.2. However, he also made a prediction about the star's form that rang true last week.

"He's going to get to five soon," he said. "And it's like a one-up thing. We're the same age, ok, I think he's about a year older, but you know, where we are in the game (is similar).

"For me, I want to try and be a little bit better than him because I think he's arguably one of the best players ever, so it's about trying to be one-up. If I show up a major, I know I want to try and get a big enough lead before he starts closing in the gap."

Koepka will get his next chance to get 'one-up' on McIlroy at the US at Quail Hollow in May, a tournament he has won three times before. The 2023 event was also where the 34-year-old captured his only major title since his big-money switch to LIV.