Bryson DeChambeau has indicated that his feud with Brooks Koepka is finally over by revealing he shared dinner with his US teammate for the second time in the last month here at Whistling Straits on Monday evening. DeChambeau also dropped the tantalising hint that he could be paired with his fellow major winner at some stage during this Ryder Cup.
Their row has been going on for more than two years and has become increasingly unseemly with fans heckling DeChambeau. Inevitably, it has commanded plenty of focus in the build-up to this contest with US captain Steve Stricker keen to play down the spat.
DeChambeau’s coach, Mike Schy, has said, “Bryson wants it to end, he wants to move on”, and it seems that Koepka has agreed to a truce.
“A lot of this social media stuff has definitely been driven by external factors, not necessarily us two,” DeChambeau said. “We had some great conversations in Tour Championship week [three weeks ago] when we had dinner. And then this week as well. I sat down and had dinner with him last night and it was fine. I think there may be something fun coming up here moving forward, but I won’t speak too much more on that.”
Butch Harmon, the celebrated coach, has called on the pair to “get their heads out of their damned a—-” and play together, but Stricker said on Monday this was unlikely. At the moment, it appears that DeChambeau will partner rookie Scottie Scheffler who he knows from their college days. Scheffler was exceedingly complimentary about DeChambeau, going as far as to compare the former US Open champion to basketball legend Michael Jordan.
“Yeah, the perceptions are around him, it’s whatever the public creates,” Scheffler said. “I think everybody has an opinion on him. I have an opinion on him, as well. I think he’s a fantastic guy. Like I said, I’ve known him since college. He’s always been nothing but gracious and kind to me, and he means really well.
“I think sometimes people take little tidbits of what he says and try and beat him down a little bit, and I think that’s kind of what happens in sports is people get built up and then they get torn down once they reach the top.
“I think it’s something you’ve seen for a long time. I’ve watched The Last Dance a couple of times, and it’s something you saw with Jordan, as well. When people make it really big, like Bryson has, I think some people try and tear him down a little bit.”
As well as talking with Koepka again, DeChambeau has also ended his boycott of the press. But only for this week it appears. “This is a team event, I’m focused on helping Team USA to a victory, and that’s honestly the reason why I’m here,” DeChambeau said when asked why he had agreed to speak with the media. “I’m not going to make this about me again. This is about a team event. I’ve got a brass chest. I’ve taken a lot of heat. But I’m okay with it, and I understand I’m in the place where I’m at, and it’s going to be that way moving forward.”
It was quite the press conference by DeChambeau, who has created so much controversy. He has refused to speak with anyone other than TV outlets with official media rights and an American magazine with which he has been under contract since August.
His vow of silence came in the wake of his admission that he had not been vaccinated, although the ensuing storm – predictably played out largely on social media – was probably the final straw for him.
At July’s Open he said “this driver sucks” and was later forced to apologise to his equipment makers, and the month before his long-time caddie quit on the eve of a tournament. Meanwhile, the quarrel with US teammate Koepka has rumbled on, with fans being ejected from events after taunting him with “Brooksie” shouts. DeChambeau is plainly looking forward to playing in front of a home crowd here.
“We’re all humans at the end of the day, and I think there’s obviously a level of, I guess you could say, control that any human will ever have, and you can have a lot of armour and you can protect yourself with people around you and all that,” he said.
“Sure, there are times where it’s not comfortable, but there’s also times where it fuels me. I think this week is going to be an amazing example of it, and it’s going to be fun to be able to have the crowd behind us and pump them up and show them what I can hopefully do and what we can do as a team more importantly.
“I’m going to try to get as many points as I can, and I think yeah, that could potentially change it for sure. There’s always going to be people saying things no matter what it is. Even if I do something – if I make a hole-in-one on every single hole out here – there’s always going to be people saying something.
“I’m not worried about it. I still love and respect them. I understand they have their opinions and whatnot and I respect those opinions, I see their points of view. But for me, again, taking it back and looking back, this is about – this isn’t about me. This is about the team going and winning the Ryder Cup.”