Brooks Koepka flexes on Bryson DeChambeau after no-abs jabs

We’re only one round into the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, but it’s already been a full week for Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka.

On Tuesday, Koepka and DeChambeau posed for a series of photos in lab coats. This was not a photoshoot about nuance; each player leaned into his respective Tour caricature, with Koepka holding a dumbbell and DeChambeau some sort of faux chemistry beaker. The two smiled for the cameras; all seemed well.

On Wednesday, DeChambeau was asked about Koepka during his Fortnite Twitch stream, comparing their relative physiques. They get along, DeChambeau said, but just don’t really “see eye-to-eye.” Still, several months after acknowledging Koepka would “kick his a–” in a fight, a bulked-up Bryson pointed out that he outweighs Koepka now — and has a better core.

“I don’t know if his genetics even make him look good,” DeChambeau said. “Did you see the Body Issue? He didn’t have any abs. I have abs.”

It should be noted that the comments were made playfully, just one short excerpt from a three-hour stream. And while Koepka doesn’t seem the likely type to watch a Fortnite stream (he’s admittedly more of a Bravo guy) a small group of devoted golf reporters, including GOLF’s own Luke Kerr-Dineen, have made it a habit.

That brings us to Thursday, where the two began to play some actual golf. It would be understandable for Koepka to get off to a slow start, as he hasn’t played tournament golf since WDing from the CJ Cup in October. Instead, he opened with a bogey-free six under 66, putting him T3 — and six shots ahead of DeChambeau.

But his real comeback came after the round.

“You were right @b_dechambeau I am 2 short of a 6 pack!” he wrote on Twitter next to a picture of his four major championship trophies. Touche.

This is the same Koepka that fired back at Brandel Chamblee last year with a Photoshopped clown nose photo. We’ve learned three things about feuding with Brooks: He’s more than happy to come back hard, he’s fueled by these micro-slights and he’ll gladly flex his trophies as a mic drop. After the clown nose incident, for instance, he blitzed the field at the PGA Championship.

This is just the latest in a pseudo-feud between Koepka and DeChambeau, dating back to Koepka’s comments about Bryson’s “embarrassing” slow play all the way through a putting-green showdown at last year’s Northern Trust.

Whatever their current standing, here’s hoping for another photoshoot soon – these two will have plenty to talk about.

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