Bryson DeChambeau-Brooks Koepka feud continues over caddie departure

For Brooks Koepka, the news that Bryson DeChambeau and his longtime caddie were parting ways was a lot like hitting an approach to within three inches of the cup. It gave him a chance at a shot sure to hit its target.

Sure enough, Koepka showed he was not about to miss the opportunity to troll his nemesis yet again. In a bit of utterly non-coincidental timing Thursday, he was quick to share a post on Twitter that lavished praise on his own caddie, Ricky Elliott.

“Couldn’t do it without my guy Rick!” Koepka wrote. “Best friend and greatest caddie to do it!”

While Koepka is away from the PGA Tour for the time being as he prepares for this month’s British Open, DeChambeau is at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, where he happens to be the defending champion. That 2020 triumph, as well as all seven of DeChambeau’s other Tour wins, including the 2020 U.S. Open, came with Tim Tucker on his bag.

Advertisement

Thursday brought a startling turn of events. Tucker, who had reportedly caddied for DeChambeau during practice rounds earlier in the week, was replaced by Ben Schomin of Cobra/Puma Golf for the first round of the tournament.

DeChambeau’s agent, Brett Falkoff, told Golf Channel that the Tucker’s departure was the result of a mutual agreement the day before.

“Tim was getting tired and Bryson was getting tired,” Falkoff said. “In any relationship, they run their course, and that’s what happened here.

“It wasn’t one specific issue. It was a culmination,” he continued. “Like any caddie-player relationship, they had their ups and downs. They wish each other nothing but the best and will always be there for each other.”

Strange seeing Bryson DeChambeau with another caddie. Here he is with Cobra/Puma's Ben Schomin, who's on the bag today pic.twitter.com/L2V1neKjF4

DeChambeau told ESPN that he and Tucker will spend some time away from each other but that the split isn’t necessarily permanent. DeChambeau added that after Schomin caddies for him in Detroit he will look for a more long-term replacement.

Advertisement

Tucker first caddied for DeChambeau in 2016, per reports, and after a short break the following year they rejoined in 2018 for a run that propelled DeChambeau into a top-10 mainstay in the world rankings. Along the way, he gained renown as well as notoriety for an unusually analytics-heavy approach, resulting in slow play and a devotion to weightlifting that provided both bulk and the ability to pound drives farther than anyone else on the Tour.

In addition to a style of play involving plenty of deliberation, DeChambeau has been seen spending long hours at the practice range.

Koepka has found great success of his own on the Tour in recent years — while playing at a decidedly brisker pace. In 2019, after being asked about a viral video showing DeChambeau in a long discussion with his caddie about club selection, Koepka said, “I just don’t understand how it takes a minute and 20 seconds, or a minute and 15, to hit a golf ball. It’s not that hard. It’s always between two clubs: there’s a miss short, there’s a miss long. It really drives me nuts, especially when it’s a long hitter because you know you’ve got two other guys or at least one guy that’s hitting before you, so you can do all your calculations, you should have your numbers.”

Advertisement

The budding feud steamed up in January 2020, when DeChambeau claimed to have a better physique than Koepka, only for Koepka to point out that he had a greater haul of major wins.

Then came May 2021, when a leaked video showed Koepka expressing in both words and manner enormous disdain for DeChambeau. That was followed by an online exchange between the two, after which Koepka enlisted fans in helping him get under DeChambeau’s skin.

“To me, that’s growing the game,” Koepka said last month of the increasingly public rivalry. “You’re putting it in front of eyeballs, you’re putting it in front of people, the game of golf, who probably don’t normally look at golf, don’t play it, might get them involved. I don’t know how it’s not growing the game.”

On Thursday, Tucker appeared unwilling to create a new feud involving DeChambeau, telling Golfweek via text message that he was “Proud to have been his Caddie.”

Advertisement

“I love the Kid,” Tucker wrote of DeChambeau. “Hardest worker I have ever seen.”

Koepka, meanwhile, was sending good vibes in the other direction, if only in hopes of putting DeChambeau in a less positive frame of mind.

“It just became caddie appreciation day!” Koepka tweeted.

Read more:

After Jon Rahm tested positive, the U.S. Open tested him. The result was one strange triumph.

Thomas Boswell: The joy of sports can’t quite be explained, but you can happily spend a lifetime trying

NFL fines Washington Football Team $10 million; Tanya Snyder to run operations for now

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMCxu9GtqmhqYGd%2BcHyWaGdqZ5KnxrS7zWabnpuYlrqjscCuZJuqn6S4tHnKqJypo5FisKKww6KcZp6VqrFw