FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Brandel Chamblee may not want to run into Brooks Koepka in a dark alley anytime soon.
Just moments after his fourth major championship win at Bethpage Black, the 2019 champion was asked about his use of career slights and what the “most disrespected or slighted” he’s felt as an athlete.
“Telling me I wasn’t tough,” Koepka said during a news conference. “That pissed me off. That really pissed me off.”
After an awkward pause, he was asked who said he was not tough.
“I think we all know.”
Koepka was referring to Golf Channel analyst Chamblee, who questioned Koepka’s toughness during Masters week, suggested he was unable to hang with Tiger like peers Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy, and took Koepka to task for losing weight to look his best for an ESPN photo shoot.
Koepka recently responded by posting a photo of Chamblee featuring a clown’s nose.
Early in PGA Championship week, Chamblee attempted to soften the blow by saying few were happier than him to see Koepka shoot 63 and even suggested Koepka’s play was comparable to Woods’ best year in 2000.
Sunday night he had high praise for the two-time PGA champion. “To win wire-to-wire is such a mental accomplishment. It’s a Rubik’s cube,” Chamblee said. “You’re trying to match yourself to the pressures every single day. Trying to keep all those at bay. He’s handled it mentally. He’s handled it physically. He’s handled it technically. Which is exactly what Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods did. He’s made a believer out of me.”
Apparently, Koepka was not appeased.
