RED, WHITE AND BLUE HAVE NO BUZZ WHEN BROOKS KOEPKA IS THE LIV GUY
Europe doesn’t have Saudi-invested players, so when U.S. captain Zach Johnson willingly used one cog, Koepka took a cheap shot at Jon Rahm as America fell behind 6 1/2 to 1 1/2 in a Ryder Cup blitz
Wouldn’t the joy of Iowa, Zach Johnson, care about the ramifications of LIV Golf? The cornstalks could smack him for having one Ryder Cup cretin who, oh, mangles matters in Guidonia Montecelio. The Europeans chose not to have any Saudi-riches-invested players on their squad, with teammate Rory McIlroy refusing to relinquish the crossfire when asked why Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood are away for the first time in eons.
“It’s going to hit home with them that, you know, they are not here — and I think they are going to miss being here more than we’re missing them,” he said.
So the Euros, with home captain Luke Donald keeping the LIV troupe away, entered the first day of competition without geopolitical interlopers after the Americans claimed Brooks Koepka. As a player, after winning his fifth major at the PGA Championship and finishing second at the Masters, he’s a monster you want on your side. Just the same, in an esteemed international event, Koepka remains the same guy who took $50 million from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Was it the right time to invite him into a red, white and blue fray, with the U.S. trying to break a 30-year absence without a Cup on overseas soil? Koepka thinks so.
“I feel like I'm representing the USA," he said. “That's what I've got on the front of my hat this week, so that's what I'm representing. It's not a group of individuals in that locker room. We're just all one team, and that's the way we think. I mean, you're just going to play a round of golf and then the team scores add up at the end. I don't see how that has really any translation to this format.”
Well, it does, when the operative nature is team-team-team-team like no other competition in the sport. Why him and not Bryson DeChambeau or Dustin Johnson? A leader either takes them or discards them all. I’d be discarding. “I don’t make the decisions,” Koepka said. “Everybody had an opportunity to get there. I had the same opportunity as every other LIV player, and I’m here. Play better. That’s always the answer.”
Said Johnson, diplomatically removed: “An easy pick.”
With the Euros likely heading home to another victory near Rome, after just one day of foursomes and four-balls, it’s proper to ask if Johnson needed another plan. Already down 6 1/2 to 1 1/2 on Friday and knowing the foes need only eight more to win the next two days, the Cup could be over before it begins. By the time Koepka hit Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, the Americans were down 4-0 after being shut out of foursomes for the first time in tournament history. Turns out he and Scottie Scheffler halved their match — as did Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, along with Max Homa and Wyndham Clark — meaning the Americans won zip as Jon Rahm rammed home a 33-foot eagle putt on No. 18. It was his second eagle in the last three holes against Koepka and Scheffler, prompting an incensed Brooks to say something on a television feed that will only further embolden the Euros and their, um, gallery members.
“I mean, I think me and Scottie birdied, what did we say, 14, we birdied 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and then lost by two," Koepka said. “So yeah. I mean, I want to hit a board and pout just like Jon Rahm did. But, you know, it is what it is. Act like a child. But we're adults. We move on.”
We’re adults? Rahm came back and halved the match.
Eight matches, zero victories, with the Euros closing out all three halves in the final stages. Consider lore: It’s the first time the U.S. hasn’t won a match on a Ryder Cup day and matches the biggest crater ever in the spectacle. Wonder why Novak Djokovic, on hand, didn’t keep dancing as fans purposely cheered misses? Will this be the 10th loss for the Americans in the last 14 showdowns? And if so, the designer who drew up their trucker caps should vanish to the nearest Walmart.
“A great day in front of some amazing home fans,” said McIlroy, who was right about his LIV goners. “All week, we’ve been talking about is getting off to fast starts ... something Luke has drilled into us. We were ready to go from the first tee shot, obviously, as you can see in how everyone played.”
“One thing that we talked about a lot is just it’s not over till it’s over, and the boys did that, those three matches,” Matt Fitzpatrick said. “They all got something out of it when they could have easily gone the other way, and it just makes a big difference.”
Makes you wonder why so many U.S. couples, some just off the plane, were dallying it up on the Spanish Steps only hours before tee-off. Fancy dinners and Instagrams are part of the scene for both teams, but wasn’t something missing? What about ugliness between PGA Tour landlubbers and LIV money-grubbers, the strife that happened longer than a year, with no one certain about the outcome? With so many others, including PGA diehards such as McIlroy and Scheffler with their wives, there was Koepka’s model wife, Jena Sims, with a fur hem — right ankle to left hip — in her white dress.
The Euros woke up. The Americans stayed on travel log. “It was the perfect start for us,” Donald said. “This team has great unity, they're very fired up, and what an amazing start for them. We feel like as a team, statistically, we are stronger in foursomes than we would be in four-balls. Why not get off to a fast start?’’
And what about three of the world’s best players? McIlroy, Rahm and Viktor Hovland were 4-0-2. "Well, they are superstars,” Donald said. “They are studs. They are three of the top four players in the world. You need your superstars firing. You need them playing well. Without that, it's really an uphill battle. They stepped up and did what they needed to do, and I'm so proud of them."
So how are those Iowa Hawkeyes looking now, Zach? You’ll probably know soon enough. “Hats off to the European team. They're playing quality golf, they're making shots, they're making putts. It's very impressive,” he said.
We knew the foes wanted their Cup back. Who knew they wanted blood? “I was trying to stay calm — and started losing my mind on the first tee. We need to keep the foot down,” Ireland’s Shane Lowry said. “Look, we are very happy with our start today, and obviously there's a lot of golf to be played from here. We talked about getting off to a fast start, and we have done that."
Which is why the Euros treat the Ryder Cup like a life-and-blood championship. Oh, the Americans care. But seeing how golf was invented in the opponents’ domain, they want to own it each day. “In America, it’s in our head. We desperately want to win,” Paul Azinger told the Associated Press. “But over there, it’s in their blood. It’s part of the fabric of their souls. It’s what they deem as the most relevant thing in their life.”
And they’re fans — “You suck, Scottie!” a dude said to Scheffler, one of the tour’s nicer guys — will be cruel. Did they expect to be harassed by Italians? “I have no issues about that,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, we have all had our fair share of hecklers over the years and whatever, and that's a part of it. Someone said to me once, if you want to be part of the circus, you have to put up with the clowns.”
Meanwhile, for a guy who once referred to the Ryder Cup as an “exhibition,” McIlroy understands why this is the “greatest experience of my career,” saying, “Nothing — nothing — beats this week. It’s an amazing experience, and I want to be a part of it for as long as I can.” Why wouldn’t he, when he was hailed for winning an early match with Tommy Fleetwood — Fleetwood Mac, for now — and a four-ball blowout with Fitzpatrick? The Euros were awash in glee and trembling. Wait until they win again. "We've put ourselves in a spot where we need — every session is extremely important — and yeah, at the end of the day, it's just all anybody can do is control their match," Thomas said.
Unless the Americans mount an unprecedented comeback, which won’t happen, those lads will keep a long rally intact and hoist the old 17-inch trophy. “Yeah,” said Donald, “a little gold trophy would be nice Sunday evening.” Hope Koepka enjoys the ride home from Whatever This Was.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.