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Koepka snubbed from U.S. Open promo: 'Somebody probably got fired'

Andrew Redington / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Brooks Koepka didn't have to search hard for motivation heading into this week's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, as the two-time defending champion was left off a Fox Sports promotional video for the event.

"You’ve always got to find something to give you a little bit of extra motivation," Koepka said at his press conference Tuesday. "Sometimes it’s blatantly obvious. There’s a commercial running now where I’m not even in it, and Fox put it up for a preview of the U.S. Open.

"A bunch of people on Twitter I think tagged me in the promo,” he added. “I guess they were amazed that I wasn’t in it. I just clicked on the link and saw it and watched it. Just kind of shocked. They’ve had over a year to kind of put it out. So I don’t know. Somebody probably got fired over it, or should."

The 29-year-old has a history of being overlooked even though he's won four majors in the past 48 months. He wasn't considered by Golf Channel's Brandal Chamblee as someone who can push Tiger Woods for the best player in the world. He was also left off a notables list at Shinnecock Hills last year even though he was the defending champion.

"I wasn’t (among the) notables (last year) after winning," Koepka added. "There’s a couple of things where it’s just mind-boggling how, it’s like, really? Like, how do you forget that?”

With newfound motivation, Koepka's quest to become the second player ever to win three straight U.S. Opens begins Thursday at 4:47 p.m. ET. Willie Anderson first completed the accomplishment in 1905.

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