“Play better, that’s always the answer” - Brooks Koepka on how LIV golfers could make the Ryder Cup 2023 team
Several LIV Golf members believe that they might have been snubbed from the Ryder Cup, but Brooks Koepka isn't buying it. There was a lot of controversy surrounding whether LIV members would make it into the team, and only Koepka did.
Koepka doesn't think there's anything to that. In his eyes, he played well and that's why he made it. When asked what LIV Golf stars could do for consideration, he was blunt:
“Play better. That’s always the answer.”
Koepka doesn't think politics or optics had much to do with the decision. He believes that if LIV players want to be considered, then they need to force their way into the conversation. Many, from his perspective, did not do that. He added:
“I don’t make the decisions. Everybody had an opportunity to get there. I had the same opportunity as every other LIV player, and I’m here.”
This runs counter to how some LIV Golfers feel. Bryson DeChambeau said via Golf Channel:
“There’s numerous people that I think Zach should have called out here, and we didn’t get that. I understand, I get it, but we’re nothing different. We’re still competing.”
That's not how it happened, as Koepka was the lone player from either Zach Johnson's or Luke Donald's team that has been on LIV Golf. Dustin Johnson also recently said that he would have made it if he'd played on the Tour.
Despite the difference in format from the PGA Tour, the PGA Championship winner doesn't see LIV's format as particularly helpful to the Ryder Cup:
“You’re going to play a round of golf and then the team scores add up at the end – I don’t see how that has really any translation to this format.”
Koepka also doesn't feel like a lone representative of his league:
“I feel like I’m representing the USA. That’s what I’ve got on the front of my hat this week, so that’s what I’m representing.”
The LIV star also admitted that he wasn't worried about the Ryder Cup when he came to the rebel tour. There were a lot of factors at play, and the Ryder Cup wasn't exactly the top priority.
Nevertheless, he beat the odds and got selected in the team. He was nearly an automatic qualifier thanks to his performances in the Masters and the PGA Championship, but he ended up being a captain's selection after being seventh on points.
Brooks Koepka feels part of the US team
Despite being the only player to have defected, the Ryder Cup locker room isn't awkward for Brooks Koepka. There has been tension between the two tours in the past, but that's not the case at the Ryder Cup.
Koepka said via Deadspin:
"It's not a group of individuals in that locker room. We're just all one team, and that's the way we think. That's what I believe, and I'm pretty sure everybody else there thinks that."
Despite their differences, Brooks Koepka feels as if they are one team fighting for a common goal. He says the other golfers would share that opinion.