"It was beyond disappointing" - Matt Wolff opens up on Smash GC skipper Brooks Koepka's disheartening remarks

Matt Wolff was slammed by his teammate Brooks Koepka for quitting on the course during a LIV Golf Event.

Koepka told Sports Illustrated that he has given up on Wolff, who withdrew from the Washington event due to an undisclosed injury.

Speaking about Wolff, Brooks Koepka said:

"I mean, when you quit on your round, you give up and stuff like that, that's not competing. I'm not a big fan of that. You don't work hard. It's very tough. It's very tough to have even like a team dynamic when you've got one guy that won't work, one guy is not going to give any effort, he's going to quit on the course, break clubs, gets down, bad body language, it's very tough."

Matt Wolff recently responded to Koepka's statement, saying that he was 'disappointed' to read his remark. On Friday, July 7, he issued the following statement to SI:

“I read the SI interview with our Captain Brooks Koepka and it was beyond disappointing to me. When I chose to join his Team in 2023, I did so with much optimism about my new home as part of Team Smash and equally as important the chance to be around and learn from a player of Brooks’s stature."

"Like everyone who has ever played the game at the highest level, I have had competitive moments in the past that I feel I have let myself down and even others in our new team environment. This has been quite difficult for me," he added.

🚨🗣️🐺 JUST IN: Matt Wolff has issued a statement responding to his Captain Brooks Koepka who said he’s ‘basically given up on him’: “I read the SI interview with our Captain Brooks Koepka & it was beyond disappointing to me. When I chose to join his Team in 2023, I did so with… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/sRTHJ9b4WS

Wolff also opened up about his mental health issues and went on to say:

"My challenges on and off the golf course with my mental health has been well documented. I deal with those challenges every day."

He added:

"I trust Brooks wants what is best for our team. But it's hard to imagine his comments in his recent SI interview in any way line up with those priorities. This will be my last comment on this matter."

It is pertinent to note that last month a rumor swirled around that Matt Wolff had left Brooks Koepka's Smash GC. The team even removed his name from their social media bios. However, Wolff still plays for Koepka's team.

Matt Wolff and Brooks Koepka set to compete at the LIV Golf London

Brooks Koepka and Matt Wolff have travelled to London for their next event, despite their mounting rivalry. The tournament runs from July 7 to July 9 at Centurion Club.

The first round began with 48 golfers joining the star-studded field. After the semi-finished inaugural round, Brooks Koepka has been playing in 43rd place with a score of +2, while Matt Wolff is one shot behind him in second-last place with a score of +3.

Marc Leishman took the lead after eight holes. Talor Gooch finished second, followed by Cameron Triangle, who has won three LIV Golf events. The golfers have yet to complete more than half holes of the first round.

Here is the pairing for the first round of the LIV Golf London event:

Hole 1: Cameron Smith, Henrik Stenson, and Louis Oosthuizen

2: Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka

3: Joaquin Niemann, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer

4: Bubba Watson, Bryson DeChambeau, Kevin Na

5: Patrick Reed, Peter Perez, Peter Uihlein

6: Harold Varner III, Talor Gooch, Thomas Pieters

7: Brendon Steele, James Piot, Cameron Tringale

8: Chase Koepka, Matthew Wolff, Jason Kokrak

10: Sihwan Kim, Scott Vincent, Danny Lee

12: Matt Jones, Jediah Morgan, Marc Leishman

13: Anirban Lahiri, Charles Howell III, Paul Casey

14: Mito Pereira, Sebastian Munoz, David Puig

15: Carlos Ortiz, Abraham Ancer, Eugenio Chacarra

16: Graeme McDowell, Bernd Weisberger, Richard Bland

17: Dean Burmester, Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace

18: Ian Poulter, Laurie Canter, Lee Westwood