You’ve got to love this on-going feud between Brooks Koepka and Bryson Dechambeau. Golf needs some attitude. What makes a compelling feud? Style, or I should say, a contrast in style. Between Koepka and Dechambeau it is difficult to find a starker contrast.
First you have Koepka: He is super cool and speaks his mind. He walks slowly but plays faster than most newly married men teeing off at 6:30 AM at their local muni.
Then there is Dechambeau. He is a nerd, the mad scientist who practically needs lab goggles and a Bunsen burner to calculate his shot. Yes, Dechambeau used a compass to practice reading greens and yes, he spritzed range balls to simulate morning dew.
Both are great players who do not apologize for who they are. The real question is, who do you give the edge to in this feud? I will attempt to break it down.
The feud publicly kicked off back in 2019 when Koepka shared his opinion to the media on the problem of slow play on the PGA tour, which is a real problem. Koepka referenced Dechambeau, specifically, for taking one minute and 20 seconds to hit each of his shots. Baffled by how someone can take that long to play their shot, he said what everyone was thinking but did not have the balls to say.
Dechambeau was unsurprisingly irked by Koepka’s comments. He escalated the issue by pointing out how Koepka should be a man and say it to his face. Be that as it may, Koepka was not wrong in his assessment of Dechambeau’s glacial pace of play.
The pace of play comment kicked off the feud, which has since descended into a more petty and comical bickering between the two players.
Dechambeau took a jab at Koepka’s’ cover photo on a recent Body issue of ESPN Magazine. The awkward photo showed Koepka swinging a golf club fully nude and sporting a bit of a belly. Dechambeau commented that he had better abs than Koepka. Koepka responded by posting a photo of his four major championship trophies and the caption: “I’m just two short of a six pack.” You have to hand it to Koepka, that was beautifully played.
There was the ant hill episode at the St. Jude Invitational where a heated Dechambeau objected to taking a drop near a fire ant hill. The next day, Koepka hit his ball in the same area and audibly complained (in jest) about a single ant near his ball. The hilarious trolling of Dechambeau racked up more points in the feud game.
Then you had the 6’1” 240 lb Dechambeau inexplicably stating that Koepka would “kick his ass” if they ever had a fight. Koepka replied, “You’ve got that right.” Again, Koepka controls the psychological battle.
So, by this point, Koepka is firmly in command of the feud. He’s landing the most punches and has the results on the course to back it up.
By 2020, after the tour returned from the Covid lockdown, things start to change. Dechambeau reinvented his physique. He gained more weight and more distance and won the 2020 US Open along with a host of other tournaments. You can sense that Dechambeau’s transformation is starting to worry Koepka ever so slightly. He has an entirely different animal to contend with now.
During a post round interview at the PGA Championship this year, Koepka lost his train of thought as you can see Dechambeau walking directly behind him and in full view of the camera. Koepka made a big show of rolling his eyes and muttered something about, “I can’t take hearing this bullshit…”
It is unclear what caused Koepka to get upset, but it appears to be the mere presence of Dechambeau. Major points to Dechambeau if he did it on purpose.
That week, Koepka pulled a Lebron James and pouted after his second-place finish to Phil Mickelson and seemed to blame the loss on his injured knee. The only thing that rivaled Koepka’s play that week was his whining.
To sum up, I’m going to give the edge to Koepka. Mainly because Dechambeau’s nerdiness is his undoing and he falls for Koepka’s trolling a bit too easily. Although Dechambeau is clawing back in impressive fashion.
Koepka’s chill persona appears forced and disingenuous at times, and in fact he has a whiny trait that has been exposed since facing difficulties on and off the course. Dechambeau will continue to nerd out but so will his winning, and I respect his indifference to his haters. Long live the Dechambeau Koepka feud!
5 Foote Gimme 