Golfer Brooks Koepka will make his pro debut in the Credit Suisse Challenge in Lucerne, Switzerland next week, part of a growing trend of American golfers starting their professional careers overseas. Koepka intends to play in three other events on the Challenge Tour, which is operated by the PGA European Tour: the Double Tree by Hilton Acava Open in Puglia, Italy, the English Challenge in Stoke by Nayland, England and the Finnish Challenge in Hyvinkää, Finland. Koepka, a three-time All-American and two-time ACC Golfer of the Year, signed with golf agent Rocky Hambric, who represents U.S. golfers out of his office in Dallas and European golfers out of Northhampton, England. Other top U.S. golfers who made their pro debuts in Europe this year include Peter Uihlein and Dylan Frittelli this year. Uihlein is represented by British golf agent Chubby Chandler and Frittelli is represented by Duncan Reid of IMG London. Hambric: "Brooks is going to start in Europe playing their Challenge Tour, which is like the Nationwide Tour here (in the U.S.). The top 20 players on the Challenge Tour earn cards on the European Tour. And the top 35 to 40 earn their way to the finals of the European Tour school. So it provides him with an alternative should he not make it through the finals of U.S. PGA Tour Q school."
