What happened between Brooks Koepka and LIV Golf teammate Matthew Wolff? Full feud explained
LIV golfers Brooks Koepka and Matthew Wolff landed in hot water earlier this year. They play for the Smash GC at the Saudi circuit. However, earlier in July the team captain Koepka ill-talked about Wolff in his interview with Sports Illustrated.
The five-time Major champion said that he had given up on Wolff and spoke about his work ethic and attitude.
In his interview, 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. I've basically given up on him—a lot of talent, but I mean the talent's wasted."
In response to Koepka's statement, Wolff slammed him for his captaincy. He was disappointed with Koepka's remark and said (via USA Today Sports):
"To hear through the media that our team leader has given up on me is heartbreaking. It’s not what a team member looks to hear from its leader, and I think we all know these comments should have been handled much differently. But I’m moving forward and won’t ever give up on myself. While on course results may not appear now to be positive indicators, I’m trying to win an even BIGGER game with my life."
Additionally, Matthew Wolff was asked if he wanted to swap teams. He didn't reply; he simply nodded and walked out of the news conference.
Wolff's name was eventually removed from Smash GC's social media bios but he is still playing for the team.
“There’s only three of us on our team"- Brooks Koepka takes another jibe at Matthew Wolff
Brooks Koepka and Matthew Wolff played at the 2023 LIV Golf Jeddah event last week. Ahead of the first round of the tournament on Friday, October 13, Koepka took another jibe at his teammate Matthew Wolff.
He was asked to comment on 'brotherhood' to which Koepka only mentioned three of his four teammates. He did not mention Matthew Wolff. During a press conference at the LIV Golf Jeddah event on Friday, Koepka said:
“There’s only three of us on our team. I mean, obviously my brother, I’m pretty tight with him, and then—I’ve enjoyed being around Jay for the last—I’ve been pretty close with Jay for maybe the last three years. I’ve enjoyed being around him. He’s a good player, super talented. It’s been fun to be around him, and he’s played pretty solid this year. Yeah, I can’t say anything bad about him.”
The LIV Golf Jeddah event was the last individual tournament of this season of the Saudi circuit. Brooks Koepka won the trophy, defending his title while Talor Gooch won the individual title after topping the LIV Golf standings.
Matthew Wolff finished in 38th position at the Jeddah event and 27th in the LIV Golf standings.