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Don’t expect the frostiness between Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau to thaw any time soon.
Speaking ahead of this week’s Open Championship at Royal St George’s, Koepka pledged to keep taking aim at his fellow American, describing him as “fair game” after the pair’s run-in on the range during the 2019 Northern Trust at Liberty National.
“He didn’t like that I had mentioned his name in [relation to] slow play, so we had a conversation in the locker room,” explained Koepka. “Then I guess we said something else in the press conference but didn’t mention his name in it, and he walked up to Ricky [Elliott, Koepka’s caddie], said something.
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“It was, ‘You tell your man if he’s got something to say, say it to my face’. I thought that was ironic because he went straight to Ricky. Ricky told me when I came out, hit a few putts, and then just walked right over to him.
“We had a conversation and both agreed we’d leave each other out of it and wouldn’t mention each other, just kind of let it die off, wouldn’t mention each other’s names.”
That, says Koepka, was the end of it as far as he was concerned – until DeChambeau started taking shots at him during a video game streaming session.
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“He decided I guess he was going on that little, whatever, playing video games online or whatever and brought my name up and said a few things, so now it’s fair game,” he added.
Koepka also reiterated his belief that the pair’s spat will have no bearing on harmony in the US team room during September’s Ryder Cup.
“It’s only a week. I mean, look, I can put it aside for business. If we’re going to be on the same team, I can deal with anybody in the world for a week.
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“I’m not playing with him. I’m pretty sure we’re not going to be paired together, put it that way. I think it’s kind of obvious. It doesn’t matter. We’re not going to be high-fiving and having late-night conversations. I do my thing, he does his thing.
“Yeah, we’re on the same team, but it’s not an issue at all. I don’t view it as an issue. I don’t think he does. Like I said, I can put anything aside for a team, business, whatever, just to get the job done. No problem with that.”
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