So the semi-final match-ups of the LIV Team Championship in Michigan are finalised, and Brooks Koepka’s Team Smash will face off against Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers in one of the three matches on Saturday.
Koepka has experienced a tough season on LIV Golf with no wins to his name in 2025 while DeChambeau recorded a solitary victory in South Korea back in May.
The two American players have a long, and well-documented, history of not getting along with each other.
Their feud lasted for a couple of years and even came close to affecting the United States’ preparation for the 2021 Ryder Cup.
However, they patched things up in the end, to an extent at least, and Koepka recently praised DeChambeau for his YouTube content creation.
In spite of that, it seems like some of the old ill-feelings towards each other returned on Friday, when the two captains made their match-up choices for the semi-finals.
And the two-time US Open champion shocked everyone by turning down the chance to take on his old foe in a singles match on Saturday.
Brooks Koepka reacts as Bryson DeChambeau rejects chance to play him at LIV Michigan
So, it seems like the feud could be back on!
After The Crushers and Team Smash qualified for the semi-finals of the LIV Team Championship, DeChambeau got to choose which team he wanted to face off against, after Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm had already chosen the Hy-Flyers.
DeChambeau chose to take on Team Smash, and then it was Koepka’s turn to name his side’s playing order. He named himself as number one, Talor Gooch in the number two spot and Graeme McDowell and Jason Kokrak as the alternate shot pair.
Then it was back to the LIV Korea winner to name his line-up and remarkably, he put himself in the number two position, choosing to send out Anirban Lahiri to take on Koepka instead of himself.
DeChambeau refused to give the reasons behind his strategy, saying: “I’ve got my reasons. It’s not personal, though, I can tell you that. It’s not.“
And now Koepka has responded.
The five-time major champion was asked why he thought DeChambeau turned down the chance to play against him.
Koepka said: “I don’t know what the thinking was behind that. I would probably say the people would want to see that. I don’t know what he was afraid of, I don’t know, he beats to his own drum. He’s a strange cat.“
So, could the feud really be back on? Cynics would say that this is mere theatre from Koepka and DeChambeau – a publicity stunt in order to build up interest ahead of the LIV Team Championship semi-finals.
The answer to that question is unclear right now, but it will be interesting to see how they react when they are next paired alongside one another.
What started the DeChambeau vs Koepka feud and how it ended
It began with Koepka bemoaning slow play on the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour back in 2019.
He didn’t mention DeChambeau by name but at the time, the 31-year-old from Dallas was under the spotlight due to his extremely methodical approach to each shot.
The 2024 US Open champion then approached Koepka’s caddie on the putting green before a tournament in August 2019 and told him to tell his boss to speak to him if he had a problem with slow play.
DeChambeau then criticized Koepka’s body and the fact that he apparently ‘didn’t have any abs’ during the 35-year-old’s appearance in ESPN The Magazine’s The Body Issue.
The Floridian responded by sending the man from Dallas, Texas, a picture of the four major championship trophies he had won at the time, cheekily suggesting that he was ‘two short of a six pack’.
Following that incident, it was very clear that the pair simply didn’t like one another. A viral video went round of Koepka’s reaction when he saw DeChambeau walking behind him during the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.
The 35-year-old actually had to stop the interview due to his annoyance at his old foe walking behind him.
Koepka then suggested that he wouldn’t be hanging out with DeChambeau at the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in 2021, nor would he be ‘high-fiving’ him after victories.
However, DeChambeau insisted that he and Koepka ended their feud before the Ryder Cup, and even suggested that they would be happy to play alongside one another.
Since then, their relationship has been amicable, but DeChambeau choosing not to face Koepka in the LIV Team Championship, and the five-time major champion responding in the fashion that he did may well reignite their feud.
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