play better
Ryder Cup 2023: Brooks Koepka has blunt response for fellow LIV golfers who didn't make it to Italy: ‘play better’
Patrick Smith
ROME — Brooks Koepka has always seemed slightly uncomfortable as a LIV Golf spokesperson, which was never more apparent than in the moments after he won this year's PGA Championship. When asked about the benefit to LIV Golf at his victory press conference, Koepka's answer was brief and probably unsatisfactory to almost everyone on any side:
"I definitely think it helps LIV, but I'm more interested in my own self right now, to be honest with you," he said.
That was typical of his public remarks at majors this year, which were few and far between and never very revealing. This week, at the Ryder Cup, he's the only player among both the Americans and Europeans from LIV Golf (Europe's rules required DP World Tour membership to be eligible to play, eliminating most LIV players, while qualifying criteria made it difficult for American on the LIV circuit to earn even consideration for a captain's pick). It was inevitable that Koepka would be asked about his league, and about the lack of other LIV players—such as Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, or even Talor Gooch—on the team. Before Koepka spoke on Wednesday, Zach Johnson revealed that the U.S. had internal rankings that seemed to make the road even tough for LIV players.
"Do you feel like the LIV guys got a fair crack of the whip at selection?" a reporter asked Koepka on Wednesday at Marco Simone.
"I don't make the decisions," he said. "Everybody had an opportunity to get there. I mean, I had the same opportunity as every other LIV player, and I'm here."
Koepka, whose general demeanor seemed somewhere between terse and tired for the entire presser (when a reporter pointed out he was the only LIV golfer in Italy, he shot back, "I didn't notice"), then summed up the matter as succinctly as possible:
"Play better," he said. "That's always the answer."
Whether that sentiment will be appreciated by his fellow LIV players is an unanswered question, but we can confirm that Koepka's general strategy for answering questions about LIV Golf has not changed. That's just Koepka being Koepka.
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