16 October 2023 , 18:33
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Brooks Koepka has reignited his feud with his LIV Golf teammate Matt Wolff, despite the pair joining forces this week to compete in the breakaway circuit's Team Championship.
Koepka captains one of the 12 LIV teams - Smash GC - and they will be hoping to get their hands on the Saudi-backed league's season finale title, with a £41 million purse on the line. The five-time major champion's prep for the event has been ideal, as he won his second LIV event of the season in Jeddah last week.
On the back of his playoff win over Talor Gooch at Royal Greens, Koepka was quizzed on his hopes heading into the the upcoming team event, but it seems not all is well in the Smash GC camp.
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Seemingly excluding teammate Wolff from the four-man team, he said: "There’s only three of us on our team. I mean, obviously, I’m pretty tight with my brother [Chase], and I’ve been pretty close with Jay [Kokrak] for maybe the last three years.
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“I’ve enjoyed being around him. He’s a good player, super talented. It’s been fun to be around him, and he’s played pretty solidly this year. Yeah, I can’t say anything bad about him.” Koepka's omission of the fourth man Wolff is not the first time the captain has taken a swipe at his fellow LIV star.
In July, Koepka described Wolff as a 'wasted talent' after he made a remarkable attack on his Smash teammate following his decision to withdraw from LIV Washington D.C.. Koepka told Sports Illustrated: "I mean, when you quit on your round, you give up and stuff like that, that's not competing.
Brooks Koepka and Matt Wolff's fallout is well documented (Getty Images)"I'm not a big fan of that. You don't work hard. It's very tough. It's very tough to have even like a team dynamic when you've got one guy that won't work, one guy is not going to give any effort, he’s going to quit on the course, break clubs, gets down, bad body language, it's very tough.
"I've basically given up on him—a lot of talent, but I mean the talent's wasted.” On the back of the astonishing rant Wolff was quick to respond, admitting he was left "heartbroken" by his captain's criticism. "This has been quite difficult for me," he too told Sports Illustrated.
Matthew Wolff has fallen out of favour with his captain (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)"My challenges on and off the golf course with my mental health has been well documented. I deal with those challenges every day. However, while my 2023 season has not been all I had hoped for to this point, I have made positive strides in managing my life and feel Ike my game is turning for the positive.
"To hear through the media that our team leader has given up on me is heartbreaking. It’s not what a team member looks to hear from its leader, and I think we all know these comments should have been handled much differently.
"But I’m moving forward and won’t ever give up on myself. While on course results may not appear now to be positive indicators, I’m trying to win an even bigger game with my life."