Tour Pro Says Brooks Koepka's Response To Ryder Cup Question Showed 'Everything That's Wrong With The US Team'

DP World Tour pro Eddie Pepperell has given his opinions on why Team USA came up so far short in its 16.5 point to 11.5 point Ryder Cup defeat to Team Europe, with an answer Brooks Koepka gave to a press conference question particularly compelling.

Speaking on the Chipping Forecast podcast, the Englishman said of the sole LIV Golf player in the match: “Brooks to me is the outlier. He’s the massive individual in this and I think that’s why he’s won so many Majors.

“But there was one point this week where he was asked in the press conference at the beginning of the week: ‘Who would have the ball? You know: 'How many people do you think will take the ball and win the Ryder Cup?’ And he took a moment to reflect and he said: ‘Very few.’"

Pepperell then explained that, as far as he was concerned, that was evidence enough that Koepka doesn’t appreciate what is needed to be a genuine team player.

He continued: “To me, that is somebody that cannot understand that it’s sometimes worth lying to say the right thing when you’re part of the team. And there would have been some people in that team would known that, actually, he’s referring to them and he didn’t specify the Europeans. He just said: ‘Very few.’ I think that is somebody who does not understand the nature of being part of a team.”

Pepperell also said he doubts other Ryder Cup players with a similar high profile would have given the same answer. He explained: “I cannot believe for one moment if that question was posed to Rory [McIlroy] or Jon [Rahm], and I would put them in the same league in terms of their ego, in terms of their animal spirits.

“They would have understood the consequences of their answer to that question. And I think Brooks does not understand it.”

Koepka, who is captain of LIV Golf team Smash GC, finished the match at Marco Simone with 1.5 points from his three sessions, while he now has an overall record of 7-6-2 from his four Ryder Cups, and Pepperell thinks that, but for that perceived lack of ability to be a genuine team player, his results would have been better. 

He continued: “Honestly, I think for that reason, he’s a disappointment when it comes to the Ryder Cups. He’ll go on to win singles. He’s a brilliant player. I love the guy, but that to me epitomised everything that’s wrong with the US team. That is just not the kind of answer you’d get in a fully cohesive team environment.”

Pepperell also criticised the lack of competitive action for US players in the weeks leading up to the match. Koepka was one of just three - along with Justin Thomas and Max Homa - who played competitively in the month before the team travelled to Italy, and he described that as “inexplicable.”

He explained: “I think the four weeks, five weeks off is inexplicable. I can’t understand it, you know as a player I think you can have two weeks off, but you need to have some relatively competitive freshness built up in the system and I think within two to three weeks. Four, five weeks is far too long.”