Spitting like a cobra, sulking like an adolescent, Brooks Koepka always had the potential to be a problem child in this American Ryder Cup team.
And so it was that Zach Johnson’s faith in the LIV golfer blew up in his face, as the five-times Major winner became one part of a morale-crushing, record defeat in the morning Foursomes.
Having taken a swipe at Europe’s Jon Rahm on Friday night, it fell to Koepka to back it up with the same sort of application he showed on the opening afternoon.
Instead, he combined with one of his successors as world No1, Scottie Scheffler, to go down 9 & 7 to Scandinavians Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg, a defeat which has never been seen before in this event’s 96 year history.
It is not just the losing, it is the taking part.
Spitting like a cobra, sulking like an adolescent, Brooks Koepka always had the potential to be a problem child in this American Ryder Cup team
Zach Johnson’s faith in the LIV golfer blew up in his face yesterday, as the five-times Major winner became one part of a morale-crushing, record defeat in the morning Foursomes
Koepka combined with Scottie Scheffler, to go down 9 & 7 to Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg
As Scheffler was ferried away from the scene of their farcical attempts at the 11th and concluding hole, he was in tears as his wife consoled him.
Koepka, who kept his hat on for the handshake formalities, departed the scene playing with his phone.
If he was bothered by his error-strewn performance, during which he continually expectorated on the lush acres of the Marco Simone Club, he was not showing it.
Nor was he talking about it, having said his piece when he accused Rahm of acting like a child during the highly charged closing stages of their fourball on Friday, which was tied after two late eagles from the Spaniard.
Rahm had struck a sign in frustration as he walked off the 17th green and was happy to address the matter after yesterday’s victory alongside Tyrrell Hatton. The Spaniard struck a tone more of pity than indignation.
‘If Brooks thinks that’s childish, it is what it is,’ he said. ‘I’m very comfortable with who I am and what I do. I’ve done much worse on a golf course than that. That doesn’t even register to a low level of Jon anger on the golf course. I needed to do that at that moment to let off some steam.
‘I’ve never had an issue with Brooks to be fair. I don’t know now, but up until yesterday afternoon I thought we had a pretty good relationship. Had I seen somebody make the putt on 18 the way I did, I would not have been the happiest of people either.
Jon Rahm had admitted he doesn’t have an issue with Koepka despite being called childish
‘Trash talking, it’s part of sports. If anything, golf could be a hard one really to back it up because you’re not really reacting on what the person in front of you is doing, like in other sports.’
As the sole LIV player, and one who arrived separately due to his Saudi-funded commitments, there was always a danger that Koepka could be a man apart among the Americans.
That looked to be the case as he and Scheffler got off to a dismal start, even by the United States’s leaden-footed standards here. They started double bogey-bogey-double bogey to go three down. With Koepka spooning his drive into the water on the 9th, they trailed by seven with a nine-over score of 40.
The 11th hole descended into the realms of tragicomedy, beginning when Scheffler sprayed his drive into the rough, audibly muttering ‘S***!’ the moment the ball left the club.
There then followed three failed attempts to make the green from different angles, on the last of which Koepka barely prepared himself before sending it skimming way over the putting surface for one final concession.
The whole humilation took a mere two hours and 19 minutes to complete. Koepka has a history of boorish behaviour – such as his unseemly feud with Bryson DeChambeau – but it was nonetheless surprising that a player of his calibre would let his standards slip so badly.
It was perhaps a deeper symptom of what Jim Gallagher Jr, a member of the last American team to win in Europe 30 years ago and now an analyst with NBC, made reference to yesterday: ‘Europe treats this event differently to the USA,’ he said. ‘It’s in their blood. They dream about it as kids, they want to win the Ryder Cup desperately. It’s in our heads.’
