What Brooks Koepka did in 2019 which Bryson DeChambeau said was ‘actually fantastic’

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It’s fair to say that Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau haven’t seen eye-to-eye in their impressive golfing careers.

Much like the long-standing Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson feud, Koepka and DeChambeau have been involved in their fair share of tussles.

One such confrontation occurred back in 2019, when their tee times were just 20 minutes apart on the Sunday of The Northern Trust.

And it arrived after DeChambeau told Koepka’s caddie Ricky Elliott that he would like to speak to his rival, having been annoyed he had previously singled him out for slow play.

What Brooks Koepka did in 2019 which Bryson DeChambeau loved

Koepka accepted the invitation, and said of his compatriot after his final round at Liberty National: “It’s not just him.

“I know he feels singled out, especially when I’m speaking about it. But it’s like I told him, I’ve mentioned his name once, and that’s it.

“There’s so many guys out here where it’s become an issue, and obviously him being probably the best player that’s relatively slow right now, he’s going to be on TV a lot more, so you’re going to catch a lot more of those type of instances.”

Sharing his take on the situation, DeChambeau said: “It was actually fantastic; I appreciate what Brooks did.

“I have high respect for him because he did that. There was one instance he said in Abu Dhabi, and he said, Yeah, I said something about that, but it was in general and got blown out of proportion.

“It was great. I said, I think we got to start internally so we don’t have these issues come out in public and it creates a bad image for the PGA Tour.

“We never want that. So it was great. We had a great conversation, and have a new level of respect for him.”

How the PGA Tour reacted to Bryson DeChambeau’s slow play problem

It was certainly an intriguing situation involving the high-profile duo, who are both currently playing on LIV Golf.

DeChambeau finished the latest season in third place in the individual standings, with Koepka down in 31st place.

Koepka’s LIV Golf move has been criticized in recent times, although the American importantly hasn’t seemingly had too many issues with slow play on the Saudi-backed tour.

In contrast, the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour have had their fair share of problems in that area, with no real long-term solution that will definitely solve it in sight at this stage.

Notably, however, the PGA Tour changed the rules about slow play in 2019, with DeChambeau’s actions at The Northern Trust having played a direct role in the decision.

Koepka certainly wasn’t the only one who spoke out about his fellow player back then, with Justin Thomas commenting: “I hate saying this because I don’t want Bryson to think I’m throwing him under the bus or anything like that, but it’s just unfortunate where the pace of play is in the game at the moment.”

Adam Scott didn’t appreciate the PGA Tour rule changes after the controversy, while slow play remains an issue at the top level.