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Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koep...

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Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka's "very unique relationship" prior to the Ryder Cup fall-out

98FM
98FM

06:20 2 Oct 2018


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While Team Europe celebrate another Ryder Cup triumph on home soil, the fallout within the US camp is getting more and more chaotic.

A divide between Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth was evident both during the first post-Ryder Cup press conference as all players sat across a long, long table with the duo at either ends and Reed not getting the opportunity to answer why he was not paired with Spieth and the latter answering diplomatically.

A Reed interview shortly after with a newspaper did suggest that Spieth was not keen on partnering Reed.

But even more dramatically was the apparent fallout between two firm friends in the shape of major winners Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson.

According to The Telegraph, they were involved in a "bust-up" which led them to be separated by onlookers as things boiled over.

US golf writer Rex Hoggard joined Joe Molloy to discuss the problems that have flared up within the US team and why they struggled so badly at Le Golf National. 

The Koepka-Johnson story is particularly surprising given how close they are.

"In this particular case - and you talk about how close they are - I go back to the PGA Championship - and Brooks telling a great story of going to the gym on Sunday morning," said Hoggard.

"It was just a public gym and everyone wanted Dustin's autograph even though Brooks was the one that was leading the PGA Championship and everybody was whispering, 'There's the World No 1'. They spend a lot of time together in south Florida. 

"They have a very unique relationship and it is fuelled, there's no doubt about it, by competition. 

"It's very much like two brothers. When you have a relationship like that, you can very easily see how things can get heated sometimes. I'm not saying there's a fracture there - I think that remains to be seen.

"But certainly I wasn't overly surprised when I read this report to be quite honest with you. I have brothers and I know growing up that sometimes things get heated between brothers. I really think that in this particular situation, it's very easy to see how this could have boiled over.

"That it happened in a public venue and that it became part of the media so quickly is a little surprising but I could definitely see this coming."  

You can listen to more Ryder Cup reaction on Thursday's Golf Weekly podcast with Joe Molloy, Fionn Davenport and Nathan Murphy. 


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