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Bryson DeChambeau buries hatchet, says Brooks Koepka ‘would kick my ass’

August 14, 2019

It sounds like golf’s latest slow play pseudo-feud has reached a resolution. After months’ worth of public back-and-forth came to a head at last week’s Northern Trust Open, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka appeared together on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio on Tuesday to publicly bury the hatchet.

Before Sunday’s final round in New Jersey, DeChambeau and Koepka exchanged words on the putting green. DeChambeau was perturbed by the fact that Koepka had publicly called out his slow play without telling him in person. SiriusXM host Michael Collins brought up the incident.

“People acted like the two of y’all were going to fight,” Collins said.

But even though DeChambeau (6’1, 205) and Koepka (6’0, 205) are an even match on paper, DeChambeau made it clear he would want no part of that hypothetical showdown. “Let’s be honest, we know who would win that fight and it’s not me. Let me tell you right now — he’d kick my ass.”

Koepka chimed in. “You’ve got that right.”

The origins of the feud trace back to January, when Koepka, speaking to Michael Weston on the Golf Monthly podcast, said “it’s not that hard” to hit a golf ball and called the speed with which some players play “embarrassing.” The remarks came on the same day that DeChambeau defended his own slow play after a clip showing his lengthy pre-shot process drew criticism.

The latest sequence of events played out in much the same way. Viral slow-play clip, DeChambeau defense, Koepka criticism — but this one had a happier resolution. DeChambeau even admitted what most golf fans already knew:

“I own up to the fact that I am slow on the greens,” he said.

You can hear some more snippets from the interview below:

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