Rivalry isn’t a new thing in golf. We’ve watched Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson taking jabs at each other during the 90s. One other rivalry that was hot a few years back was that of fellow LIV golfers Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka. The duo were known to hate each other and the rivalry peaked when a video of Koepka being annoyed by DeChambeau surfaced online. But, despite being Koepka’s rival, DeChambeau chose to congratulate him on his fifth major win at the 2023 PGA Championship.
Brooks Koepka had just made history by being the first LIV golfer to win a major and it was huge! DeChambeau stated in an interview that he noticed that Koepka had very few people to congratulate him after the feat. Thus, as a golfer, it was his duty to show respect to his fellow compatriot.
“I’m going to give respect where respect is due. He has won five majors, and he played better than me that week, and what was sad is that really nobody was there to congratulate him after. It’s like, man, no matter what tour you’re on, no matter what you’re doing, that’s five majors, and he deserves some respect on that.”
Although ‘The Scientist’ finished in fourth place, he cultivated no jealousy and rather took a benevolent action by praising Koepka on the 18th green.
“He’s a LIV Golfer and I am, too, and obviously that’s a part of it, but for me it was more of mutual respect of man, this guy just won five majors, and I want to see that. It’s pretty special.”
Bryson DeChambeau’s grand gesture was worthy of recognition and he became the bigger person by acknowledging his longtime rival. But how did the men of the same circuit become rivals in the first place?
Why Brooks Koepka And Bryson DeChambeau Became Rivals
During the 2019 Dubai Desert Classic, Brooks Koepka showed his frustration over the slow play of the golfers in front of him, but he didn’t specify Bryson DeChambeau’s name.
“I just don’t understand how it takes a minute and 20 seconds, a minute and 15 to hit a golf ball; it’s not that hard.”
As a reaction to that, DeChambeau confronted Koepka’s caddie and asked him to say that to his face.
Also, Koepka’s shallow comments sparked controversy regarding DeChambeau’s golf skills, which could have been handled better. Following that, Koepka said in his defense that he didn’t mean to target DeChambeau, but as a whole, slow play was a problem for those who waited for their turn.
The rivalry didn’t resolve there. In 2020, Bryson commented on Brooks Koepka’s body structure and said,
“I don’t know if his [Koepka’s] genetics even make him look good, to be honest…That Body Issue, he didn’t have any abs, I can tell you that. I got some abs.”
The fight got dragged out, and Koepka took to social media to flaunt his trophies against DeChambeau’s achievements.
“You were right [DeChambeau]. I am 2 short of a 6 pack!”
During several other instances, they took digs at each other. But the most controversial were the slowplay comments and the body shaming comments, which made things even worse. But at the 2023 PGA Tournament, the long-time rivals finally decided to end their squabble. Brooks stated,
“Believe it or not, we squashed it.”
It was later known that both the golfers talked after that and stayed in contact. And thus, the hottest rivalry in golf died down and all was good in the golf world.
