Brooks Koepka has brushed off the rules controversy he was involved in from last year's Masters by claiming the mandate is regularly broken on tour.
Koepka was on his A-game at last year's Masters as he held the overnight lead for the opening three rounds before Jon Rahm moved on top on Sunday to clinch his first green jacket.
But while Koepka's stellar play around Augusta made headlines, he was also embroiled in a controversial incident during the first round that raised questions over the rules of golf.
Koepka's caddie was filmed mouthing the word 'five' to compatriot Gary Woodland on the par-5 15th while the four-time major champion also appeared to signal 'five' with his fingers while taking his glove off.
The incident was seen by some as a clear violation of rules for a player or caddie to disclose information on which clubs were used to hit a shot.
The Masters Tournament Committee ultimately cleared Koepka and his caddie of any wrongdoing.
Brooks Koepka shrugged off the rule controversy
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Koepka was asked about the incident in his pre-tournament press conference and revealed the rule is regularly broken by his peers.
"I mean, everybody's exchanging information all day long," Koepka said.
"Looking in guys' bags, caddies are signaling all day long.
"But who knew, I think I was just foreshadowing what was going to happen."
Koepka will enter the tournament as one of the favourites given his pedigree at major championships.
He finished tied-45th last week at LIV Miami, finishing the event with two rounds of 77.
The 33-year-old has not finished inside the top-10 of a LIV event since the opening tournament of the season in Mayakoba.
But Koepka feels able to kick into a different gear for the week of the four majors as he hopes to build his legacy in the sport.
"If you can't get up for the biggest events, I don't know, I think there's something wrong with you," Koepka said.
"It's what I always dreamed of when I was a kid.
"When I was practicing at my dad's course when I was younger it was always to win a major championship.
"Even today, that's what I first see, that's what I think you're judged by, your legacy, what you're defined by
Brooks Koepka and Ricky Elliott were cleared of any wrongdoing
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"I've always said it, I think you can tell exactly how many Jack, Tiger, Arnold, Tom, you can tell, all these guys, how many majors they won.
"It's tough to tell how many events they won, but I know that there's one sure-fire way to figure out who is who is by major championships."
But Koepka took exception to being asked whether he missed 'competing against some of the best golfers' after missing events on the PGA Tour like the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship.
He replied: "I think that's subjective.
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Brooks Koepka will be one of the favourites to win the Masters
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"Look, the best players in the world never got together week in, week out. I think that's kind of forgotten.
"We always, if you look at the Tour schedule, it was the majors, WGCs, I never played API [Arnold Palmer Invitational] that much, like later in my career, or at Memorial, but those were pretty much the 10 events where everyone was, for sure, going to be there.
"And then it was just kind of sprinkled in everywhere else. I think that's kind of how it is.
"You don't have the 40 best players in the world competing every single week. I think that's one thing that's forgotten."
