Across the pond, especially seeing as this is a Ryder Cup year, people have been royally entertained, as one scribe put it, by the quarrel between Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, who are on pace to be teammates for the biennial match between the U.S. and Europe in September at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
So, it was no surprise Koepka fielded questions Tuesday about the social media tussles with DeChambeau ahead of Thursday’s start of the 149th British Open at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England.
Quick recap: The spat started in 2019 when Koepka mentioned DeChambeau’s name while talking about slow play. The two seemingly hashed things out at Liberty National during the 2019 Northern Trust, but Koepka said DeChambeau went back on his word after their conversation, and from there matters escalated.
“He didn’t like that I had mentioned his name in slow play, so we had a conversation in the locker room, and then I guess (I) said something else in the press conference but didn’t mention his name in it, and he walked up to Ricky (Elliott, Koepka’s caddie), and said something. It was, ‘You tell your man if he’s got something to say, say it to myself,’” Koepka said at Royal St. George’s. “I thought that was ironic because he went straight to Ricky. Ricky told me when I came out, hit a few putts, and then just walked right over to him, we had a conversation. We both agreed we’d leave each other out of it and wouldn’t mention each other, just kind of let it die off. Then he decided, playing video games online or whatever and brought my name up and said a few things, so now it’s fair game.”
The back-and-forth reached its zenith at the PGA Championship this year – Koepka rolling his eyes – and at the Memorial. It has naturally led to both being asked if they can co-exist during the Ryder Cup.
“You realize it’s only a week, right?” Koepka said. “Look, I can put it aside for business. If we’re going to be on the same team, I can deal with anybody in the world for a week. I’m not playing with him. I’m pretty sure we’re not going to be paired together; put it that way. We’re not going to be high-fiving and having late-night conversations. I do my thing; he does his thing.
“It’s not an issue at all. I don’t view it as an issue. I don’t think he does. Like I said, I can put anything aside for a team, business, whatever, just to get the job done. No problem with that.”