Bryson DeChambeau vs. Brooks Koepka: Timeline of beef, feud before The Match

Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka will square off in The Match 5 but we’re breaking down how these two golfers and their beef got to this point.

In theory, the fifth iteration of Capital One’s The Match should be the end of a now years-long feud between two of the best American golfers in the world, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, as the two foes settle it on the golf course on Friday, Nov. 26 at Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas.

DeChambeau and Koepka have been trading barbs back and forth dating as far back as 2019 — at least as far as we know. However, that has escalated over the past year, even if the two elite players set aside their differences long enough to help lead the United States to a decisive Ryder Cup victory.

But now that it’s time to settle the score, we must first look at how we got here. Namely, let’s take a look at all of the punches traded leading up to Capital One’s The Match: Bryson vs. Brooks.

Bryson vs. Brooks: What started beef leading to The Match 5?

By most accounts, the feud between Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau began at the 2019 Dubai Desert Classic, which took place in January, when the former called out the latter for excessive slow play when asked about a viral clip circulating social media featuring an instance of the matter.

Koepka didn’t hold back, diminishing the slow play by saying that hitting a golf ball is “not that hard” and referring to it as “embarrassing.”

DeChambeau tells Koepka to ‘say it to his face’ – August 2019

Later in the 2019 calendar year at The Northern Trust in August, another Bryson DeChambeau slow play clip began going viral — this time largely for the reaction on the broadcast from playing partner Justin Thomas — and the negative response got under DeChambeau’s skin.

As such, he went to Koepka’s caddie, Ricky Elliott, and told the bag-man that his “boss” could say it to his face if he had something to say (despite Koepka not fully commenting on the matter).

Koepka, indeed, obliged and went to talk with his fellow PGA Tour pro. After the pow-wow, DeChambeau was chatty talking about how well it went and “appreciating” that Koepka spoke to him about it. The other party, however, was less wordy and simply said there were “no issues.”

Soon after that, they seemingly were fine enough with their relationship after joking about who would win in a fight during an interview.

Brooks Koepka appears in ESPN’s Body Issue, Bryson DeChambeau takes a shot – January 2020

Koepka modeled for the ESPN Body Issue and, unprompted and seemingly out of nowhere while streaming on Twitch, DeChambeau took a shot at his competitor’s physique, noting that he “didn’t even have any abs” before noting “I have abs.”

For this battle in the feud, Koepka definitely got the last laugh as he responded with a picture of his four major championship trophies saying he was “2 short of a 6 pack”.

ANTS! Koepka takes a jab at another on-course DeChambeau moment – July 2020

First, amid DeChambeau’s shockingly fast muscle and weight gain to chase distance, the newly beefy golfer had an outburst at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in which he got unreasonably angry with a cameraman during a heated moment. In response, Koepka made an insinuation on Twitter about how DeChambeau gained his muscle, using the ineffable Kenny Powers and the power of a GIF.

With both players in the field for the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Bryson DeChambeau drew many laughs throughout the golfing world as he fervently tried to get relief from what he believed might be an anthill, a discussion that went on for several minutes with a rules official before he was not given relief.

In the next round, Koepka hit his drive into roughly the same area on the No. 7 hole and joked with his caddie by backing off and saying “ant” while pointing at his ball and backing off. He then laughed it off, clearly joking, and then hit his shot.

The infamous Brooks Koepka eye-roll hits Twitter – May 2021

After almost a year with little going on between Koepka and DeChambeau, the feud was ignited with larger flames than ever before in May 2021 after the PGA Championship when an interview between Koepka and Todd Lewis from Golf Channel that never aired was leaked onto Twitter.

In case you were one of the maybe five people on Earth who didn’t see it, Koepka was trying to talk to Lewis about his round when DeChambeau walked behind him on the sidewalk with metal spikes. Koepka then went on an expletive-laden rant about not being able to think with that “b******t” going on after rolling his eyes completely into the back of his head.

If the feud wasn’t already escalated to this point, the frenzy around this clip definitely achieved that.

A wild Summer 2021 with Bryson and Brooks

Honestly, there’s almost too much to recap for what happened throughout the summer, so we’re bullet-pointing everything that happened for the sake of brevity.

• Bryson DeChambeau pairs with Aaron Rodgers for The Match 4, Koepka says “Sorry, bro” to the Packers QB on Twitter.
• “Brooksy” shouts at DeChambeau from fans become prevalent, which DeChambeau reacts poorly to, having fans removed. Koepka fuels the fire with a Michelob Ultra sponsored giveaway surrounding the shouts.
• Koepka says he regrets nothing about the beef in an interview.
• Rumors circulate that DeChambeau declines a pairing with Koepka at the U.S. Open.
• Bryson recalls the eye-roll interview by jokingly walking behind another interview between Koepka and Lewis, this time addressing the camera and waving.
• DeChambeau splits with caddie Tim Tucker, Koepka posts an appreciation tweet for his caddie seemingly in response.
• DeChambeau goes viral again for post-round interview at The Open Championship when he said “The driver sucks.” Koepka later says “I love my driver” in an interview.
• DeChambeau curses at a fan calling him “Brooksy” and has fan removed.
• PGA Tour intervenes, essentially says fans are no longer allowed to yell “Brooksy”.

Brooks Koepka opens up on why Bryson DeChambeau feud continued

In the middle of the summer, this deserves a bit more context. In a July interview, Koepka clarified why the beef has been going on and, frankly, reached the levels it had.

Back in 2019 when they had the discussion regarding slow play, Koepka said that he and DeChambeau discussed simply leaving each other out of it, which they agreed upon. So, when DeChambeau made the Body Issue dig at Koepka’s abs, Koepka then considered the potshots fair game from that point forward.

Squashed beef at the Ryder Cup – September 2021

Leading up to the Ryder Cup, U.S. captain Steve Stricker said in August that the feud was over. And for what it’s worth, the two foes seemed chummy at Whistling Straits, even hugging one another in seemingly jovial fashion.

As mentioned, the United States dominated in the event with a resounding and important victory.

Bryson vs. Brooks: The Match 5

And that all leads us to the day after Thanksgiving. In October, DeChambeau teased “something fun” and that was soon followed by the announcement of the fifth installment of Capital One’s The Match featuring the two rivals/enemies/competitors.

Will this be the final chapter of the feud? At this point, there’s literally no way of knowing what’s going to happen next.

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