Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka has won the last two PGA Championships consecutively, and after a typically brilliant opening round of 66 on Thursday at TPC Harding Park, the pre-tournament favorite is in a solid position to pull off a three-peat.
Koepka isn’t taking the occasion too seriously, though, and one of the first things he did after his round concluded was continue to needle one of his biggest rivals, Bryson DeChambeau.
DeChambeau and Koepka have an extremely petty feud that dates back to January, when a newly beefed up DeChambeau took a shot at Koepka’s physique during a Twitch stream.
“I don’t know if his genetics even make him look good, to be honest. I mean, the Body Issue, he didn’t have any abs, I can tell you that. I’ve got some abs.”
The comments came after Koepka lost 20 pounds during the 2019 season before his photo shoot for ESPN’s The Body Issue. A few months later, he won his fourth major. Koepka’s body seems to be working OK for him.
In response, Koepka fired off an incredible tweet, taking a photo of his four major trophies to point out to DeChambeau that he’s “2 short of a 6 pack!”
Since then, DeChambeau has been silent on Koepka – but Koepka has rarely missed an opportunity to troll DeChambeau. Just last week in Memphis, DeChambeau went viral on golf Twitter over an exchange he had with a rules official over the placement of an ant hill. An errant drive left him in a bad position, and DeChambeau asked for free relief to move away from what he deemed to be a hill of fire ants, only to be denied by the official. The very next day, Koepka missed the fairway with a drive, and as he was inspecting his ball, he joked with his caddie that there was an ant by his ball, an obvious jab at DeChambeau.
On Thursday, after his 4-under round of 66, Koepka trolled DeChambeau again, telling reporters that he doesn’t have to be “scientific” about his game.
“Just feeling good, I’m playing good. There’s no reason to be scientific with all the numbers and stuff like that on TrackMan, just go out and go play.”
I love it. Golf thrives on rivalries, and having one of the best players in the world be so incessantly petty is just hilarious. This is all leading to a Bryson-Brooks pairing at the Ryder Cup, where they put their differences aside to form the Mega Powers and beat Europe.
Friday’s Big Winner: Russell Wilson
After NFL Twitter dunked on Wilson when a bizarre two-year video went viral again this week, in which Wilson dubs himself “Mr. Unlimited,” Wilson leaned into the meme tweeted out a hype video promising the return of Mr. Unlimited later this year. It’s been a pretty spectacular offseason for Wilson, who welcomed a new baby boy with his wife, Ciara, and saw his Seahawks move all-in on 2020 by acquiring Jamal Adams in a trade.
Quick hits: NFL players opting out, Getting Home, NASCAR’s new starting lineup formula
— Our NFL expert Steven Ruiz has a ranking of the NFL teams that have been most affected by COVID-19 opt-outs.
— Steven Ruiz also just dropped an epic five-part series on how different NFL teams pressure opposing quarterbacks. If you want to learn more about defense in the NFL, it’s a must-read.
— NASCAR is switching up its procedure for determining the starting lineup at races in 2020, and while it’s extremely confusing and involves a lot of math, Joey Logano thinks the new system is fair.