Let’s be honest, every sports fan has yelled at their TV over a broadcast blunder. But what happens when you’re the guy on air making the mistake? Just ask Joe Buck.
During a recent appearance on The JustIn Time Podcast with Justin Kutcher, the longtime sportscaster opened up about one moment that still makes him cringe: the time he misidentified Brooks Koepka’s girlfriend at the 2017 U.S. Open. And not just any girlfriend, now-wife Jena Sims.
“I felt sick about it,” Buck admitted, shaking his head as he recalled the mix-up. The incident happened live on Fox’s coverage of Koepka’s win, when Buck mistakenly named Koepka’s ex, Becky Edwards, while the camera panned to Sims in celebration. Buck wasn’t freelancing, he was reading from a notecard.
Joe Buck Recalls Brooks Koepka Girlfriend Mix-Up
“That same thing happened to me with Brooks Koepka,” Buck said. “Getting the wrong name of his wrong girlfriend… that was on a note card from a guy who helped me countless times.”
Buck said the miscue stung even more because it came at the end of a grueling five-day broadcast for Fox. The network had taken heat throughout the tournament, and Buck felt like this mistake was the final punch.
“I was like, oh my God, I let everybody down by that stupid, embarrassing moment,” he said. “You feel like the world’s talking about it, and really, nobody cares.”
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Well, not nobody. Sims, now 36 and a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model, caught the moment but never held a grudge. Speaking to USA Today in 2018, she shrugged it off. “Of course [I forgive him]. He clarified my name this week, so I appreciate it. But I didn’t really care.”
Buck made up for it the following year, correctly identifying Sims as Koepka clinched another U.S. Open. The couple later tied the knot in 2022 and welcomed their son, Crew, in 2023.
Still, the slip-up lingers for Buck, who turns 57 this year. “Not everything that comes out of my mouth is something that I’m proud of,” he said. “We live in a world that’s more gotcha than pat ya on the back.”
At least this time, the “gotcha” ended with a laugh, and a happily-ever-after for Koepka and Sims.
