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Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau's growing feud is exactly what golf needs
By Charlotte Wilder
FOX Sports Columnist
With Tiger Woods out of the game at the moment, the best possible thing that could’ve happened to the golf world took place over the weekend.
And I am not talking about Phil Mickelson winning a major at the age of 50.
No, I’m talking about something that might seem much less important but is actually the key to attracting new fans and younger audiences. That thing is Brooks Koepka rolling his eyes at Bryson DeChambeau in a now-leaked video that went viral this week.
I would say please watch it, but the video has been removed:
Which is the stupidest thing golf could do. But we’ll get to that in a moment.
First, I need to describe the video in case you haven’t seen it yet.
(At least you can see the eye roll!)
A reporter asks Koepka a question. Koepka starts to answer it, saying, "I didn’t putt well, but I don’t think any of the guys are going to putt well with this wind. It’s very tough. I don’t know what other guys said. I just find it difficult to read. Just sometimes …"
At this point, Koepka trails off, losing focus as he catches sight of someone off-camera. Seconds later, we see DeChambeau — wearing one of his trademark newsboy caps — walk directly behind Koepka. DeChambeau mutters something we can’t really hear, and Koepka rolls his eyes.
"Christ. I f---ing lost my train of thought hearing that bulls---," Koepka says.
The reporter then reshoots the question.
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Look, this is why I watch sports. I want to see the cracks in the veneers, the moment that a professional can no longer publicly keep it professional because that one guy pushed that one button one more time.
I live for this drama. I’ve often said that sports are the original reality show (and are currently one of the few that can’t be spoiled before they air), and moments such as this make the storylines extra juicy.
Which is why that video should remain on the internet.
I don’t know if Koepka's or DeChambeau’s camp asked for it to be removed, if it was a decision by the governing body of golf or if the network took it down. But whoever made sure we can no longer watch it should be ashamed because they are robbing their own sport of exactly what it needs.
That whole interaction couldn’t have been scripted more perfectly because if you aren’t familiar with DeChambeau and Koepka’s beef, this rivalry isn’t new. They’ve been going back and forth at each other since 2019 when Koepka criticized how slowly DeChambeau played. DeChambeau got wind of this and told Koepka to say it to his face. Koepka did, then the two hashed it out on a podcast, and things seemed to be better.
But they weren’t. In 2020, after Koepka appeared in ESPN’s Body Issue, DeChambeau said of Koepka: "He doesn't have any abs, to be honest. I got some abs!"
Koepka had the last word when he tweeted this in response:
But that’s not all Koepka tweeted. In 2020, DeChambeau — who got jacked during the pandemic — got into a tiff with a CBS camera guy, and Koepka put out this gif featuring Kenny Powers from "Eastbound and Down," suggesting that DeChambeau was using steroids.
"There are times where it’s like, ‘OK, dude, it’s too far,’" DeChambeau said to Sports Illustrated afterward. "I’ve gone up to him a couple of times and tried to talk to him. And there have been times where, you know, I was gonna go talk to him when he said something, and I’m just like, ‘You know, it’s not even worth it. It’s not even worth my time to try and create something.’"
There are a few more minor incidents that fueled this country club fire, but the most recent one is the video that hit this week.
And now we’ve got a full-blown feud.
Feuds are good for golf. They keep fans engaged, allow people to pick sides and contribute intrigue to what can be — golf bros don’t read this — a stuffy sport filled with stuffy guys.
This delightful pair of nemeses pull fans in. If you went to a college that was a little too full of itself, you probably know guys like Koepka and DeChambeau, bros who couldn’t stand each other but always ended up at the same parties and got in drunk fights about their golf handicaps.
Or maybe you were with them at that bachelor party? DeChambeau was the groom’s friend from home, and Koepka was the groom’s college roommate, and they got into a fistfight in Scottsdale, Arizona, because one of them accused the other of cheating on the 10th hole.
DeChambeau is a particular kind of bro. He’s so obnoxious about his game (complaining that ants are on his ball, coyly saying he has a new putter, putting on tons of muscle mass to the point that it’s comical) that you almost start to respect his bit.
Koepka, on the other hand, is remarkably nonchalant. He once said that he kind of blacks out during the middle of a golf game because it’s too long, and he has hinted that he’d rather play baseball.
They were made to drive each other crazy, and we’re lucky they’re on the course at the same time.
If you know guys like these two, their argument is deeply relatable. If you don’t, the whole thing is funny because it’s so stupidly male. But no matter how you slice it, Brooks vs. Bryson is hilarious, fun and the exact sort of incident that golf should embrace.
Lean into it, PGA. Give the people what they want because when you do — in the words of Kenny Powers himself — "[the] audience goes f---ing apes---."
Charlotte Wilder is a general columnist and co-host of "The People's Sports Podcast" for FOX Sports. She's honored to represent the constantly neglected Boston area in sports media, loves talking to sports fans about their feelings and is happiest eating a hotdog in a ballpark or nachos in a stadium. Follow her on Twitter @TheWilderThings.
