The latest twist of a petty — albeit intriguing — feud between Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka came Wednesday when the pairings for “The Match” were released.
Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady will return as a dynamic duo in the modified alternate shot match play event on July 6 at the Reserve golf course at Moonlight Basin near Big Sky, Montana. Their competition? DeChambeau and Aaron Rodgers. The event starts at 5 p.m. on TNT.
Koepka, of course, felt obligated to empathize with Rodgers for what he saw as an unlucky pairing.
“Sorry bro,” Koepka tweeted.
“It’s nice to be living rent free in your head!” DeChambeau replied.
— Brooks Koepka (@BKoepka) May 26, 2021
This whole back-and-forth has been going on for quite some time, but it became most noticeable Monday when a video of a post-tournament interview with Koepka was leaked on Twitter. Koepka closes his eyes as DeChambeau passes and loses his train of thought.
It’s unclear if the click-clack of DeChambeau’s metal spikes caused Koepka to become irritated or if DeChambeau said something on his way past.
“I lost my train of thought, yeah, hearing that bulls—-,” Koepka said in the Golf Channel interview. “F—-ing Christ.”
What did Bryson say to Brooks? pic.twitter.com/TURmA782Zb
— Who’s Your Caddy? (@BlatantGolf) May 25, 2021
DeChambeau later commented on the video on Instagram, writing, “You know you can fix spike marks now.” The comment is in regard to a rule introduced last year allowing golfers to tap down spike marks on the putting green before taking a shot.
But the beginning of the feud can be traced back to 2019, when Koepka — among other golfers — bemoaned the slow pace of play from DeChambeau. According to Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch in August 2019, that prompted DeChambeau to tell Koepka’s caddie that Koepka was better off making those comments “to my face.” So Koepka did.
In 2020, Koepka appeared in ESPN’s Body Issue. And while DeChambeau played video games on a live stream, he criticized Koepka’s abs — or lack thereof.
“In the Body Issue, he didn’t have any abs, I can tell you that,” DeChambeau said on Twitch. “I got some abs.”
Koepka reacted quickly to that, though, snapping a photo of his four major trophies: the 2017 and 208 U.S. Open and 2018 and 2019 PGA Championship.
You were right @b_dechambeau I am 2 short of a 6 pack! pic.twitter.com/aCJ1jimId6
— Brooks Koepka (@BKoepka) January 16, 2020
“You were right @b_dechambeau I am 2 short of a 6 pack!” Koepka replied in a caption along with the photo of his trophies.
The end to this petty squabble doesn’t appear to have any end in sight. But it’s not a terrible thing for golf, either, adding intrigue as people wonder what comes next in a series of jabs.
• Andy Kostka can be reached at akostka@washingtontimes.com.
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