Golf’s most famous feud from the last couple years will take center stage during the fifth edition of “The Match” on Friday, Nov. 26.
But, how did Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka’s feud come about? Their annoyance for each other, per se, began in January 2019, and their feud has been on and off since then. Even when fans thought the feud was over after the 2021 Ryder Cup, “The Match” is bringing the feud back in full force.
Here’s what you need to know about the DeChambeau-Koepka feud, including a detailed timeline of the major events that have taken place between the two golfers.
MORE: The best moments from golf’s Bryson vs. Brooks feud that keeps on giving
Bryson DeChambeau & Brooks Koepka feud timeline
January 2019 – Slow Play
Although the beginning of their “feud” wasn’t officially raging, the comments Koepka made about DeChmabeau during the 2019 Dubai Desert Classic are known as the first time either one of them spoke about each other publicly.
DeChambeau at the time was known for his slower style of play since he is so methodical each stroke he takes. Koepka commented on “slow play” generally after the tournament, and many believe he was not-so-subtly talking about DeChambeau with the “long hitter” reference.
“I just don’t understand how it takes a minute and 20 seconds, a minute and 15 to hit a golf ball; it’s not that hard,” Koepka said, via ESPN. “It’s always between two clubs. There’s a miss short, there’s a miss long. It really drives me nuts especially when it’s a long hitter because you know you’ve got two other guys or at least one guy that’s hitting before you, so you can do all your calculations, you should have your numbers.”
Koepka’s comments sparked a debate in the golf world about slow play, which in turn caused DeChambeau to become defensive. At the time, this was DeChambeau’s response to the criticism he indirectly was receiving from various golfers, not just Koepka.
“When you start personally attacking people on Twitter, it’s like, come on, dude,” DeChambeau said. “Let’s have some more, I was going to say something else, but let’s have some more balls and speak to me to my face about that.”
August 2019 – Caddie Fight
Months into the “slow play” debate, DeChambeau reportedly approached Koepka’s caddy ahead of an event and told the caddy to tell Koepka to tell his comments “to his face.”
Was standing on the putting green with Koepka’s caddie earlier when an irritated Bryson DeChambeau walked up & told him to tell his boss to make any comment about slow play “to my face”. Brooks arrived soon after, got the message & ambled over for a chat with the scientist.
— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) August 11, 2019
Koepka found it ironic that DeChambeau didn’t actually confront him to his face. Koepka spoke with media about the situation after, too.
“It’s not just him. I know he feels singled out, especially when I’m speaking about it,” Koepka said. “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.”
DeChambeau commented back to Koepka and apparently the two met and had a conversation about the issue.
“It was great. ‘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,” DeChambeau said. “We never want that. So, it was great. We had a great conversation, and have a new level of respect for him.”
And, ironically again, their feud was far from over.
January 2020 – ‘I got abs’
The feud sparked again after DeChambeau spoke out about Koepka’s body after he appeared in ESPN’s Body Issue.
Koepka jokingly responded to DeChambeau’s comments on Twitter by showing off his four major wins. At the time, DeChambeau had not won a major.
August 2020 – Mad Scientist
Koepka continued to take indirect jabs at DeChambeau through parts of the 2020 season. He never called DeChambeau by name, but many of his comments led people to believe he was talking about DeChambeau. For instance, in this clip, Koepka says, “There’s no reason to be scientific. …” DeChambeau is known as the “Mad Scientist” since he uses his background in sports science to improve his game.
May 2021 – The Eye Roll
The 2021 storyline of the DeChambeau-Koepka feud was born at the 2021 PGA Championship. It all began with an eye roll.
This video quickly became a meme circulating social media, and it caused many people to be curious about their feud. What did Bryson say? Why don’t they like each other? And so on, and so forth.
MORE: Here’s what Bryson DeChambeau did to Brooks Koepka that sparked viral video
Then, when DeChambeau was announced to be playing in “The Match 4” partnering up with Aaron Rodgers, Koepka took to Twitter to “apologize” to Rodgers for having to play with DeChambeau. DeChambeau made sure to reply to that, as well.
@BKoepka It’s nice to be living rent free in your head!
— Bryson DeChambeau (@b_dechambeau) May 26, 2021
June 2021 – Brooksy
The “Brooksy” saga began at the Memorial Tournament in June when spectators started yelling “Brooksy” at DeChambeau while he was playing. Koepka even began encouraging this nickname by calling himself “Brooksy” in videos.
MORE: Brooks Koepka enjoying feud with Bryson DeChambeau
July 2021 – The Driver
During The Open 2021, DeChambeau commented saying his driver sucked one day during the event, and then Koepka decided to start emphasizing his love for his driver. First, he mentioned it in an interview, then he posted about it on Twitter.
MORE: Brooks Koepka trolls Bryson DeChambeau after driver comments
MORE: Brooks Koepka explains beginning of beef with Bryson DeChambeau ahead of 2021 British Open
August 2021 – The End of Brooksy
During the final round at the BMW Championship, DeChambeau competed in a six-hole playoff against Patrick Cantlay. Fans continued to shout “Brooksy” at him, and he finally had enough of it. DeChambeau said “You know what? Get the f— out,” to one of the fans who called him “Brooksy.”
This caused the PGA Tour to step in. PGA commissioner Jay Monahan announced that any fans using “Brooksy” at PGA Tour events could possibly be barred from attending future events.
MORE: PGA Tour commissioner explains why golf fans can no longer yell ‘Brooksie’ at Bryson DeChambeau
September 2021 – Ryder Cup saves the day?
Ahead of the 2021 Ryder Cup, Koepka assured Team USA captain Steve Stricker that the two rivals would be on their best behavior at the event. Stricker made sure to not partner them up for any competition, although it was later discovered that the two wanted to be partners.
MORE: Bryson DeChambeau wants to ‘move on’ from Brooks Koepka feud ahead of 2021 Ryder Cup
After Team USA clinched the victory, Koepka and DeChambeau were seen hugging, celebrating together and even wearing “best friends” shirts. Many believe this was a way to publicly say that the feud is over.
MORE: Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka celebrate USA’s Ryder Cup win with a hug
However, during the week of “The Match,” DeChambeau and Koepka came out and said the hug at the Ryder Cup was forced.
“It was definitely a little forced,” DeChambeau said, via Bleacher Report. “The team wanted us to do it, and to be honest I was surprised he did it. But I’m a guy that can put things behind me pretty quickly when you apologize and then we can move along. But it definitely felt forced, there wasn’t an apology or anything like that. Until I get an apology for what he’s said and what not, nothing will change.”
Supposedly, their hatred for each other is as real as it could get. DeChambeau said “all real on my end,” while Koepka said, “I’ve never really liked him.”
November 2021 – ‘The Match’
Ahead of DeChambeau and Koepka’s competition “The Match,” they have revisted parts of their feud as a way to promote the event. Here are a few of their tweets they have used to promote “The Match.”