Analyst BLASTS (!) Brooks Koepka Ryder Cup pick: "A referendum on LIV Golf"

Brooks Koepka receiving a Ryder Cup captains pick would be a referendum on LIV Golf, according to Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee.

Ben Smith

19 Aug 2023

Analyst BLASTS (!) Brooks Koepka Ryder Cup pick: "A referendum on LIV Golf"

Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee is on the warpath and now Brooks Koepka is in his crosshairs.

The controversial former PGA Tour player blasted Phil Mickelson and Patrick Cantlay in an explosive interview with GOLF earlier in the week.

"If the tour's philanthropic aspect dies, the autopsy should read LIV," Chamblee argued. "It should read Phil."

Now he has stated LIV Golf player Brooks Koepka making Team USA would be 'bad for the Ryder Cup'.

Koepka is currently fifth in the Ryder Cup standings. Only the top six players qualify automatically for Zach Johnson's Team USA.

Beyond that, the decision is with Johnson and his team of vice captains.

Johnson is a PGA Tour loyalist and he has made no secret that he's not really a fan of LIV Golf.

He previously joked he didn't know what TV network airs LIV broadcasts. More recently, it was revealed he's had practically zero communication with the rival league players.

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Koepka doesn't have the opportunity to collect any more points whereas Max Homa, directly behind him in the standings, shot a course record of 62 at Olympia Fields during the BMW Championship.

Johnson's vice Fred Couples previously let slip that Homa would be heading to Italy but he's hit form at exactly the right time.

There is also the small matter of the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake where even more points will be on offer.

As far as Chamblee is concerned, if Koepka were to receive a captains pick then it would be a referendum on LIV.

He argued:

"I think [Koepka] is bad for the [Ryder Cup] team.

"Koepka being at the Ryder Cup, regardless of what he does, will not be about whether it will be great for the United States or the Ryder Cup... In making this team more cohesive, being all on point, and pointing in the right direction, Brooks Koepka missing this team would be good for this team."

Analyst BLASTS (!) Brooks Koepka Ryder Cup pick:

Chamblee added:

"Let's get down to the brass tacks of this.

"The guy who runs the money that pays for LIV ordered the butchering of [Washington Post journalist] Jamal Khashoggi. As far as I know, he has never faced the music for that. That is who runs LIV. That is who funds LIV. That is who they went to. That is who they are playing for.

"Koepka being on the Ryder Cup is a referendum on LIV. It will be nothing else. It will be non-stop tweets from bots and everyone that supports LIV about how great this is for LIV, more than about being about the Ryder Cup, more than the philanthropic aspect of the PGA Tour or the PGA of America."

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