Brooks Koepka has described long-term rival Bryson DeChambeau as the “the biggest figure in golf” despite their history of feuding. The LIV Golfstars will pair up to play against Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler in The Showdown next week.
The exhibition event will see the pairs go up against each other in an unofficial LIV Golf vs PGA Tour battle. While McIlroy and Scheffler have always enjoyed a harmonious relationship, Koepka and DeChambeau have been sporadically at each other’s throats for several years.
And so Koepka’s high praise of his fellow American might come as some surprise.
Promoting The Showdown, the 34-year-old told Sports Illustrated: “I can promise you on the other side, they’re not sitting there wanting to lose. Rory doesn’t, Scottie doesn’t want to lose to us and there’s no chance [we want to lose], we’re too competitive on our side. We don’t want to lose.
“I truly think you’ve got the biggest figure in golf in Bryson and then one of the [golfers with the] most majors. We’ve got a lot going on our side. We want to beat them, we want to showcase the world we’re the top two dogs.”
Koepka and DeChambeau have frequently bickered over the past few years. They have sniped at each other in interviews and warred over social media.
Koepka later revealed that DeChambeau broke a pact, which saw them agree that they would no longer mention each other’s names. He claimed that the 31-year-old scuppered the promise by talking about him while streaming a video game.