Four-time Major winner Brooks Koepka had strong words for a pair of Ryder Cup rules officials who wouldn’t give him a free drop in his morning foursome match at Whistling Straits.
Koepka and Daniel Berger were 1 down to Europe’s Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia at the 15th hole when Berger’s tee shot found a clump of tall scrubby grass.
Koepka said he was worried his shot out would have him hit a nearby drain with his club, but PGA rules official David Price said he didn’t think so and refused to give Koepka relief.
“Have you ever seen me hit a ball?” Koepka argued. “Don’t you think my club might hit right here?”
Koepka warned he would seek a second opinion and he did, but European Tour official Mark Litton said there was no obstruction in the path of Koepka’s expected shot.
“Sorry, Brooks,” Litton said after the officials, the American players and Garcia had huddled over the drain in question and mimed some prospective swings for several minutes.
“If I break my wrist, it’s on f**king both of you guys,” said Koepka, who withdrew from the US PGA Tour Championship earlier this month after jarring his left wrist when his club hit a hidden tree root as he hit out of the rough.
Eventually, Koepka stepped up and fired the ball on to the 15th green on the way to a par that halved the hole.
Sergio just spit out his drink laughing so hard at Brooks Koepka going back and forth with the rules official. https://t.co/5PfC8NRYwZ
— Mark Harris (@itismarkharris) September 25, 2021
But the morning would end in disappointment for Koepka and Berger, whose 3 & 1 loss was Europe’s only victory of another disappointing session that gave the US a commanding 9-3 lead in the matchplay showdown.
Asked about the ruling after the match, Koepka had nothing to say but, “We didn’t get it”.
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© Agence France-Presse
