The Beef Between Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau A Timeline
The rivalry between professional golfers Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau has become one of the biggest stories in golf over the past few years. Their ongoing feud full of petty comments eye rolls, and social media jabs, has captured the attention of fans and ignited debate. But how did it all start and escalate into one of golf’s greatest rivalries? Here is a timeline of the beef between Koepka and DeChambeau
Origins of the Beef
The origins of the feud can be traced back to January 2019 when Koepka indirectly criticized DeChambeau’s slow pace of play. Koepka told a podcast that he didn’t understand how pros could take over a minute to hit a shot, saying “it’s not that hard.” Although he didn’t mention DeChambeau by name, it was implied the comments were aimed at Bryson’s methodical style. DeChambeau later defended his pace, saying there’s a lot of calculations involved in his pre-shot routine.
Things appeared to simmer down until the 2019 Northern Trust when DeChambeau confronted Koepka’s caddie about the comments. This irritated Koepka, who later said he found it ironic DeChambeau didn’t approach him directly. The two had a private conversation at the tournament and agreed to leave each other out of future comments.
Public Jabs on Social Media
The truce between Koepka and DeChambeau didn’t last long. In January 2020, Bryson called out Brooks’ physique in ESPN’s Body Issue during a Twitch stream, saying he didn’t have any abs. Koepka quickly fired back on Twitter with a shirtless photo.
A few months later, Koepka made fun of DeChambeau’s ant hill incident by joking about an “ant” near his ball at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. He also frequently liked tweets criticizing Bryson. The social media jabs and petty comments kept escalating.
The Infamous Eye Roll
Tensions reached new heights at the 2021 PGA Championship when Koepka was doing an interview and rolled his eyes when DeChambeau walked behind him. The video went viral, taking their feud to the next level. Fans ate it up, cheering “Brooksy” at tournaments to antagonize Bryson. In response, Koepka offered free beer to any fans ejected for yelling his nickname.
Playing Nice at the Ryder Cup
With the 2021 Ryder Cup approaching, captain Steve Stricker sat down with both players and made it clear their beef needed to be put aside. During the event, Koepka and DeChambeau managed to play nice, even hugging it out at one point in a show of unity as the U.S. dominated Europe.
The Match and Beyond
After the Ryder Cup camaraderie, many hoped the feud was over. But weeks later, it was announced Koepka and DeChambeau would face off in a 12-hole match on TV. There was more trash talk leading up to it, and Bryson won the match. Since then, the two have continued to take subtle jabs at each other.
Most recently, they’ve both joined the controversial LIV Golf tour and are now essentially teammates competing against the PGA Tour. It’s unclear whether their newfound common ground will lead to a lasting peace. But the beef has been one of golf’s most entertaining and unpredictable sagas, keeping fans invested every step of the way.
It’s all about The Body
In January 2020, Koepka appeared in ESPN The Magazines The Body Issue with other athletes showing off their physique.
DeChambeau either didnt know how livestreaming works or didnt care, because he criticized Koepkas body while livestreaming himself playing a video game on Twitch.
“I dont know if his genetics even make him look good, to be honest,” DeChambeau said on video. “That Body Issue, he didnt have any abs, I can tell you that. I got some abs.”
That went against what Koepka and DeChambeau had agreed upon previously, to keep any issues in-house and not make any statements public, so the choice of words was strange, to say the least. Especially given that on the platform, a video can be recorded and shared on social media.
That seemed like a light-hearted jab back at DeChambeau. Maybe DeChambeaus criticism was made in jest, as well, but either way, we didnt see much public bickering until July 2020, at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.
The tour had just returned from its pandemic shutdown and DeChambeau was featuring his new, bulked-up body and distance off the tee. He had everyone noticing how far he was hitting the ball, but some questioning how he gained so much weight so quickly.
DeChambeau had a confrontation with a cameraman during the tournament after hitting the sand in anger in a bunker. He felt the cameraman was focusing too much on him for too long to capture his outburst. The two had a conversation.
Koepka, who was not playing in the tournament, took notice.
Later in the month, at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, DeChambeau hit an errant tee shot near a tree and on top of a stick on the seventh hole. He called over a rules official to see if he could get relief because he believed his ball was resting on an anthill.
He was hoping for relief under the dangerous animal condition, by saying his ball was on a fire ant nest and the fire ants were potentially dangerous. Dangerous to what or whom, who knows.
He was not given relief.
During the second round of the tournament, Koepka hit a tee shot out to the left, in the rough near some trees, and joked to his caddie that he saw an ant. The discussion was picked up by cameras and microphones and, of course, went viral.
Koepka didnt mention DeChambeau by name in the steroid tweet or his ant remark, but it can be surmised they were aimed at DeChambeau. Similar to his comment at the PGA Championship about his successful play.
He told a reporter in an interview that theres no reason to be scientific with the numbers, that hell just go out and play. That might not have been targeted, but DeChambeaus nickname is the Mad Scientist.
Things seemed to cool down for a while. Koepka complimented DeChambeau before the Masters in November 2020. DeChambeau was contemplating using a 48-inch driver for the tournament and Koepka said that length is always an advantage and that DeChambeau has done a good job working to hit the ball as far as he does.
It started with slow play
Before this all moved to social media, Koepka made a comment in January 2019 about slow play at the Dubai Desert Classic.
He didnt mention DeChambeau by name, but at the time, DeChambeau was at the center of conversation for his methodical approach to each shot.
“I just dont understand how it takes a minute and 20 seconds, a minute and 15 to hit a golf ball; its not that hard,” Koepka said at the time. “Its always between two clubs. Theres a miss short, theres a miss long. It really drives me nuts especially when its a long hitter because you know youve got two other guys or at least one guy thats hitting before you, so you can do all your calculations, you should have your numbers.”
DeChambeau was asked about it, but responded subtly that a lot goes into a shot and theres a lot of calculating hes doing in 45 seconds.
Fast forward to August at the Northern Trust, when a video of DeChambeau taking more than three minutes to hit a 70-yard shot went viral.
Another video went viral that week, showing DeChambeau taking more than two minutes to read an 8-foot putt on the eighth hole. The video showed playing partners Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood visibly bored by the amount of time it was taking to read the putt, only to watch DeChambeau miss the birdie try and tap in for par.
Other players, including Luke Donald, Rich Beem, Joel Dahmen, Eddie Pepperell and Ian Poulter, criticized the video on social media and were vocal that the tour needed to step in and do something about the pace of play.
That, of course, caused DeChambeau to go on the defensive and talk about the criticism he has received. He believed it was unfair and pointed to different factors throughout a round that can contribute to slow play.
DeChambeau also noted that there were other players who were also habitually slow and that when people start talking about his slow play and how he is killing the game, it was unfounded criticism.
“Sure, Eddie Pepperell, not fair to say. I would love to speak to him personally and talk about it, because I played with him, actually, at WGC-Mexico. We can talk about that time that we played it in,” DeChambeau said at the time. “When you start personally attacking people on Twitter, its like, come on, dude. Lets have some more, I was going to say something else, but lets have some more balls and speak to me to my face about that.”
Koepka didnt say anything more publicly about DeChambeau at the time, so whether or not there was something said behind the scenes or that made its way to DeChambeau through other channels, its unknown.
Something caused DeChambeau to confront Koepkas caddie, Ricky Elliott, on the practice green. He told Elliott that if Koepka has something to say about his slow play, he should say it to his face.
Koepka said he found that ironic that DeChambeau didnt go to his face to say it, but rather through his caddie, but he did not immediately go on the offensive. The two seemed to have worked something out at the time and had a private conversation on Sunday of the tournament about the brewing feud.
DeChambeau felt as though he was singled out by Koepka in his comments earlier in the year and that had snowballed into heavier criticism from multiple angles.
“Its not just him. I know he feels singled out, especially when Im speaking about it,” Koepka said at the time. “But its like I told him, Ive mentioned his name once, and thats it. Theres so many guys out here where its become an issue, and obviously him being probably the best player thats relatively slow right now, hes going to be on TV a lot more, so youre going to catch a lot more of those type of instances.”
DeChambeau acknowledged the conversation and said it was productive. That the two talked about what Koepka had said and it was explained that it was a generalized comment, not meant to just single out DeChambeau or one person.
That conversation led to both golfers agreeing they should keep their comments internal, that they shouldnt go public with criticism and should try to keep any disagreements or verbal spats in house.
“It was great. I said, I think we got to start internally so we dont have these issues come out in public and it creates a bad for the PGA Tour,” DeChambeau said. “We never want that. So, it was great. We had a great conversation, and have a new level of respect for him.”
That conversation seemed to squash any potential issues that could move forward and they both even appeared on SiriusXM radio together with Pat Perez and Michael Collins, where DeChambeau admitted to his slow play on the greens. There was even some jovial banter between the two with DeChambeau saying Koepka would win in a fight and that, “Hed kick my ass.”
Problem solved, right? Nope.
Brooks Koepka vs Bryson DeChambeau Explained (Brooksy)
FAQ
Are Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau friends?
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Sports Illustratedhttps://www.si.comBrooks Koepka Says He Was ‘Wrong’ About Bryson DeChambeauDec 11, 2024 — In 2023, Koepka said in a Q&A on Instagram that the beef was “squashed.” More of their newfound bromance may be on display going forward as DeChambe…
What did Brooks Koepka say about Bryson?
“We all get older, we all mature a little bit, and then you realize, hey, Bryson’s a good dude,” Koepka said.
Why does Brooks not like DeChambeau?
The well-publicized feud between DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka appeared to begin when DeChambeau took exception to comments Koepka made criticizing golfers who operate at a slow pace. While Koepka didn’t mention DeChambeau by name, he later said DeChambeau was one of the players he perceived as slow.
Who is Bryson DeChambeau’s enemy?
Back in November 2021, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka came face-to-face in Las Vegas.