Brooks Koepka took a fresh shot at Bryson DeChambeau this week. The five-time major champion said Rory McIlroy was right to ignore DeChambeau during the final round of the 2025 Masters.
Koepka made the comments in an interview with Dan Rapaport on the Dan on Golf YouTube show. Asked whether McIlroy should have spoken to DeChambeau that Sunday at Augusta National, Koepka didn’t hesitate.
“He shouldn’t have,” Koepka said. “I mean, he lives in his own world. I mean, I don’t think many people want to talk to him regardless.”
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Koepka said he would have handled the final pairing the same way McIlroy did. “I wouldn’t have spoken to Rory, and I don’t think he would have spoken to me and it would have been totally fine,” he said. “I’m not a big talker. I’ll talk a little bit, maybe the first couple of holes.”
“I fully understand it. I don’t feel bad. It is what it is,” Koepka added. “Some guys don’t talk. It’s okay. It’s their job. They get to do what they want.”
The silence became a storyline after McIlroy won the 2025 Masters to complete the career Grand Slam. DeChambeau, who played alongside him in the final group, said afterward that McIlroy “didn’t talk to me once all day.”
“He wouldn’t talk to me,” DeChambeau said at the time. “He was just like, just being focused, I guess. It’s not me, though.”
McIlroy later explained his approach. “We’re trying to win the Masters,” he said. “I’m not going to try to be his best mate out there.”
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Koepka and DeChambeau have a long history of their own. It started in 2019, when Koepka called out slow play on tour without naming DeChambeau, who was facing heavy criticism for his pace.
At the 2019 Northern Trust, DeChambeau confronted Koepka’s caddie on the putting green. He told the caddie that if Koepka had a problem with his pace of play, he should say it to his face. The two later talked it out, with Koepka saying, “I’ve mentioned his name once, and that’s it.”
It flared up again in January 2020. On a Twitch stream, DeChambeau said Koepka “didn’t have any abs” in his ESPN Body Issue shoot. Koepka fired back on social media: “I may not have abs, but I have more majors than you.”
Months later, when DeChambeau was paired with Aaron Rodgers for The Match, Koepka tweeted, “Sorry bro @AaronRodgers12.”
The feud peaked in May 2021. A day after the PGA Championship, an unaired Golf Channel interview leaked showing Koepka rolling his eyes and swearing as DeChambeau walked behind him during the second round. The clip went viral.
Fans soon got involved. At the Memorial Tournament in June 2021, spectators began chanting “Brooksy” at DeChambeau.
The two were U.S. teammates at the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits and hugged at the team’s winning press conference. That November, they faced off in The Match at Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas, which Koepka won.
By 2024, Koepka said the two had “squashed” their feud and were in touch “almost every day.” Both had joined LIV Golf by then, and they teamed up that year to face McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler in an exhibition match.
Koepka is close with McIlroy. The two are neighbors in Florida, and McIlroy’s back-to-back Masters titles have moved him past Koepka with six career majors.
“It motivates me, put it that way. I’m happy for him, I think he deserves it,” Koepka said. “But at the same time, I want to beat the crap out of him and I’m sure he feels the exact same way.”
Koepka also said he still believes he can reach double digits in majors. “I still think I can get to double digits,” he said. “You get to six, seven, eight majors, that’s a different caliber of guys.”
