US Ryder Cup Team Fallout: Johnson, Koepka Bust Up, Reed Slams Furyk

The United States team’s fallout after their humbling defeat at the hands of Europe in the 42nd Ryder Cup last weekend continued with reports emerging about a huge bust up between Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka.

The Americans came into the biennial tournament as the overwhelming favorites by fielding what was considered their strongest lineup in their Ryder Cup history, but failed to execute their plans over the three days as they went down 17.5–10.5 to the Europeans, who put on a clinical performance despite trailing 3-1 after the opening fourball session Friday.

In the immediate aftermath of the loss, the U.S. team members seemed to take it on the chin and accept they were outplayed by Europe. Jim Furyk — the captain of the U.S. team — was quick to congratulate and praise his European counterpart Thomas Bjorn, while Tiger Woods accepted a major part of the blame, having lost all his four matches.

However, in the following days, it has become clear there was more than what met the eye prior to the start of the Ryder Cup. According to the Telegraph’s James Corrigan, Johnson and Koepka almost came to blows after they had been invited to the Europe team room a few hours after the Ryder Cup concluded.

The reason for the bust up between the two remains unknown, especially since they are known to be close friends off the course. The duo were also paired for Saturday afternoon’s foursomes, which they lost to Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson.

But the report claimed the animosity between the pair started well before the tournament got underway with multiple sources reporting a bust up between the pair on the flight from Atlanta to Paris a few days prior to the Ryder Cup.

British tabloid the Sun claimed it was due to Johnson feeling insecure about how close Koepka and his fiancée Paulina Gretzky were becoming in the face of reports about his relationship being on the rocks.

Koepka’s representative has outright denied the claims of a bust between the pair, suggesting it is a made up story, but multiple reports are citing eye witnesses, who want to remain anonymous, to give credibility that the incident did occur.

The bust up between Johnson and Koepka was not the only story to make headlines after their humiliating loss as just a day after the tournament at Le Golf National, Patrick Reed took a swipe at captain Furyk for making him sit out both the foursome sessions Friday and Saturday.

Reed was the highest scorer for the U.S. team in the last two Ryder Cups and he was pretty miffed as being overlooked. The 2018 Masters winner also took a swipe at Jordan Spieth with whom he had forged a successful partnership in the previous tournaments.

“I thought our captain might go back with the groups that have worked in the past. For somebody as successful in the Ryder Cup as I am, I don’t think it’s smart to sit me [out] twice,” Reed said after post the conclusion of the Ryder Cup on Sunday.

“The issue’s obviously with Jordan not wanting to play with me. I don’t have any issue with Jordan. … When it comes right down to it, I don’t care if I like the person I’m paired with or if the person likes me, as long as it works and it sets up the team for success. He and I know how to make each other better. We know how to get the job done,” the American added.