Brooks Koepka has appeared to reignite his bitter rivalry with Bryson DeChambeau after questioning the Crushers GC captain’s decision during the LIV Golf Team Championship
Brooks Koepka appeared to reignite his rivalry with Bryson DeChambeau(Image: Getty Images)
Brooks Koepka appeared to take an unsubtle dig at Bryson DeChambeau after his once bitter foe made a questionable decision during the LIV Golf Team Championship.
Over the years, Koepka and DeChambeau did little to hide their disdain for each other as their rivalry blossomed into one of the most notorious of the modern era.
The American stars seemed to have buried the hatchet, however, upon defecting to LIV Golf together and teaming up at the Ryder Cup. Though Koepka and DeChambeau have let bygones be bygones, that hasn’t stopped them from taking playful jabs at one another.
On Saturday, DeChambeau’s Crushers GC faced off against Koepka’s Smash GC at LIV Michigan — setting the stage for a potential head-to-head clash at the Cardinal at St. John’s.
Yet DeChambeau had other plans, opting to use Anirban Lahiri first against Koepka rather than himself. The 31-year-old, meanwhile, took on Talor Gooch second.
Koepka, for one, hardly understood his opponent’s decision. “I don’t know what the thinking was behind that,” he conceded.
“I’d probably say the people would want to see that. I don’t know what he was afraid of. I don’t know. He beats to his own drum. He’s a strange cat.”
When asked why he didn’t choose to go up against Koepka, DeChambeau replied: “I’ve got my reasons.”
Despite their recent coaching disagreement, Koepka asserted last December that there’s no bad blood between him and DeChambeau. “We’ve come a long way,” he acknowledged at the time.
Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka agreed to bury the hatchet following a years-long feud(Image: Getty Images)
“Going to LIV, honestly, I think that was a big moment for us, right? We were forced — well, I don’t want to say forced — but we were communicating a lot more, our conversation became a lot more open. From there, I’m the first person to admit I can be a bit stub𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧.
“We all get older, we all mature a little bit, and then you realize, ‘Hey, Bryson’s a good dude.’ I think he’s severely misunderstood, and I think the world is starting to see who Bryson DeChambeau is, which is cool.
“I’m the first person to admit it: I was wrong with what my original thoughts were.”
DeChambeau expressed a similar sentiment while pinpointing the exact moment that he and Koepka mutually agreed to end their feud. “At the Ryder Cup we squashed a lot of what was going on,” he explained while making an appearance on the ‘Pat McAfee Show’ in 2023.
“We realised we were going to play for our country, and not for our own personal advantage or what not. There was beef back in the day and I think as time has gone on and we have got older, especially going to LIV, we realized that we were all in this together and we got to figure out a way to make it make sense for everyone.”
Unfortunately for Koepka and DeChambeau, it doesn’t look as though they’ll be able to once again team up at this year’s Ryder Cup.
DeChambeau is set to automatically qualify for a spot on Team USA by finishing sixth in the team rankings. Captain Keegan Bradley will draft the remaining six seats via wildcards, but is unlikely to choose Koepka, who finished in 76th due to a disappointing 2025 campaign.