Brooks Koepka coach slams Golf Channel ‘paid actor’ Brandel Chamblee for saying no LIV star can play Ryder Cup in reference to sports wash after NBC showed the Winter Olympics of Russia and China
- Brandel Chamblee’s remarks came two days after Brooks Koepka won the PGA
- Koepka became the first LIV Golf player to win a PGA Tour major
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Claude Harmon III – the coach of PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka – has torn Brandel Chamblee after the Golf Channel studio analyst suggested no LIV player should feature in the Ryder Cup this fall.
On Sunday, Koepka won at Oak Hill for the third time in his career. His victory made headlines afterwards, with the 33-year-old becoming the first Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour player to win a major PGA Tour championship.
Speaking on the PGA Championship broadcast, Chamblee and Brad Faxon were embroiled in a heated exchange when the latter – once ranked 11th – said Koepka could earn a spot on the USA Ryder Cup squad , although Chamblee is strongly against it. event.
“The PGA of America runs the Ryder Cup,” Faxon said, explaining Golf’s governing bodies to his broadcast partner. “I don’t think it has anything to do with… they don’t play for money in the Ryder Cup, Brandle. They play for their country. He’s an American.
After the point, Chamblee repeated the lines “they’re playing for their country”, later adding, “There’s a certain feeling that the Europeans are playing for their tour.” Faxon then said that “they were golfing”, before an awkward silence emerged on the air, the two former pros staring at each other.
Brook Koepka’s coach Claude Harmon III (right) blasted those against LIV golfers competing at the Ryder Cup in the fall (seen with Koepka, left, in 2017)
Brad Faxon argues that maybe Brooks Koepka deserves a spot on the Ryder Cup squad and Brandel Chamblee doesn’t have it.
Chamblee doesn’t understand the fact that a golfer from LIV has just won a major tournament. Awkward. pic.twitter.com/PhCVp6qBV8
—Marc Harris (@itismarkharris) May 21, 2023
Brandel Chamblee of The Golf Channel wondered if LIV golfers would play for their country
And on Tuesday, two days after Koepka’s major win, Harmon III couldn’t stand up to LIV Tour critics such as Golfweek writer Eamon Lynch and Chamblee.
The latter previously used the term “sportswashing” abounding in the Saudi sovereign wealth fund funding the PGA Tour rival.
‘Brandel is a paid actor for NBC and Golf Channel… And I mean, I love him, I think Eamon is a fantastic writer, but for Eamon Lynch and Brandel Chamblee, who worked for NBC Golf Channel for utter the words ”sportswashing” when the company they work for televised the last two Winter Olympics in Russia and China with the same leaders they had. It’s not like they were good leaders back then,” Harmon III said via Golfweek.
“It’s not like Putin is a good guy, is it?”
Koepka became the first LIV golfer to win a major PGA Championship at Oak Hill on Sunday
Following Sunday’s final at Oak Hill, USA Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson made it clear he would not exclude LIV players from his 12-man roster.
‘Yes, he is in the team. He directly owns that, absolutely,’ the 47-year-old said. “Essentially, Koepka could earn a spot via the six automatic spots or, if he were to miss, via one of the six captain’s picks.”
The Ryder Cup is usually held at the end of September each year, with USA qualification concluding after the BMW Championship on August 20.
Whoever finishes in the top six ranked players at that time automatically qualifies, with Johnson selecting his six captain’s picks after the 2023 Tour Championship.
This year, the Ryder Cup will be played for the first time in Italy at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome.
