It has been a rough week for three-time Major winner Brooks Koepka.
The US golf star was part of Jim Furyk’s strongly backed team that lost the Ryder Cup to Europe, struck a spectator at the event and was reported to be involved in TWO bust-ups with teammate Dustin Johnson.
Koepka is at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and gave his take on the wayward tee-shot that hit a female golf fan. Corine Remande was struck in the head by the shot and has since lost vision in her right eye.
“I wasn’t told [about the news] until I got to the golf course,” Koepka told reporters. “I’m not the biggest person on social media. I don’t have updates come into my phone. So when I got here and I had about seven missed calls and 25 text messages, I was like, what’s going on.
“Then I was told the news, and obviously, like I said, I’m just really heartbroken. My stomach sank. Yesterday was probably one of the hardest days trying to focus on play golf, just knowing.”
Koepka was also reported to have clashed, twice, with Johnson – once on the flight over to Paris for the Ryder Cup and the next time after the tournament wrapped. This is something he has strongly denied.
“Like I said, the whole Dustin thing is a lot like… I don’t get it. It’s actually quite funny to us. I mean, we’re really good friends and there was no argument. There was no fight. I’d be curious, though, who would win in a fight. I feel like it would be pretty interesting.
“I’ve never… we’ve never fought. That’s not our relationship. We’re two even-keeled guys. I don’t think — I can’t even remember raising my voice to him and I don’t think he’s ever raised his voice to me, ever, in our four years of friendship. I mean, that’s not who we are.
“You see it, we’re pretty comfortable and laid back. That’s just you guys trying to find why we lost and making an excuse. It even goes back to, that we got in a fight on the flight over; we’re sleeping. So it’s just laughable, it really is.”
“But you know, the camaraderie,” he added, “we still have a group chat that we’ve been chatting on for months now. We’ve all been talking about it. You know, hey, wish we all could have played a little better. It’s just that simple. We just didn’t play good enough, and credit to the European guys. They played well.”
Koepka has also been sending messages, separate from the Team USA group, to Johnson and Patrick Reed, who had a much-publicised disagreement with Jordan Spieth.
“Whatever happened, I don’t know,” said Koepka.
“It’s not… I’ve been texting with Patrick. I’ve actually been group texting with Dustin and Patrick. We were all chatting yesterday.
“So there’s no hard feelings. It’s a team. It’s the one time we’re a team and no one can take away that we were the 2018 Ryder Cup Team. No one can take that away from us, and that’s special to me, being a part of, you know, the team in 2016.
“We win as a team and lose as a team. I’m not happy about it. I can guarantee you that Jim and the rest of the guys aren’t happy about it. We’ve all got to move on, and it happens. Hopefully next time we just play a little better, simple answer.”
The fissure may have indeed been just a crack but losing always seems to magnify the cracks.
WATCH: Liverpool BOTTLED the title race 🤬 | Who will win the Premier League?
