Brandel Chamblee complains of ‘negativity bias’ after flap with Brooks Koepka’s dad

Brandel Chamblee has built a brand around saying what he really thinks about golf and the professionals that play the game. His critiques are often to-the-point and delivered with conviction, and in turn they are often labeled as controversial, whether or not that is true.

What is definitely true is that his analysis inspires equally-passionate reactions, with many objects of his criticism taking his comments personally and responding in kind.

Chamblee doesn’t hesitate to defend himself and his journalistic style when challenged, which is the scenario he found himself in Tuesday.

Following a recent Twitter spat with the Bob Koepka, the father of Brooks and Chase Koepka, the Golf Channel provocateur took to Twitter again to defend himself more broadly.

For some context, Chamblee found himself in the line of fire last week after posting a seemingly innocuous tweet. In the original tweet, Chamblee related the story of a recent round when he was waffling over going for the green from 245 yards before his wife Bailey Mosier convinced him by challenging his courage with the following quip: “Well, are you a man or a mouse?”

To his surprise, Bob Koepka replied to the tweet, touching on a critique Chamblee made of his famous son earlier in the year. The elder Koepka wrote, “And you question Brooks toughness? #easydecision”

While Koepka’s tweet could have been a case good-natured ribbing, Chamblee felt the need to defend himself with a reply of his own, arguing he “never questioned [Brooks’] toughness” only his “MENTAL” toughness. That set off a brief back-and-forth, with Koepka bringing up another Chamblee criticism of his other son, Chase, and his exemption into the Zurich Classic.

That all happened on August 31, but 10 days later, the criticisms were clearly still on Chamblee’s mind. He took to Twitter once again to defend himself, while sharing an article that conveniently also defended his tactics.

In the tweet, Chamblee complained of “negativity bias” and blamed it for the perception that he is a mostly negative critical presence in the golf world. Despite doing “over 5,000 segments on Tiger and… 90% of them were laudatory,” Chamblee wrote, “most, including [Tiger], remember only the criticisms.” He then brought the Koepkas back into the picture, writing, “Much the same is true with Brooks, hence his father’s reaction.”

Whether or not you side with Chamblee, we’ll be hearing more from him. And as long as players continue to read and watch him, they’ll continue to critique the critic.

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