No more than a few hours after Brooks Koepka lifted the PGA Championship, attention turned, on the Golf Channel at least, to whether the 33-year-old could feature in Zach Johnson's American Ryder Cup side in September, despite leaving the PGA Tour for the LIV Golf league last year.
Speaking on the broadcast, Brandel Chamblee and Brad Faxon were involved in a slightly tense exchange on the matter, with Faxon seemingly getting the better of his fellow broadcaster. Below, we have included the most notable part of the exchange, but you can watch the full video here.
Brad Faxon makes the case that Brooks Koepka may deserve a spot on the Ryder Cup team and Brandel Chamblee was not having it. Chamblee can’t fathom the fact a LIV golfer just won a major. Awkward. pic.twitter.com/PhCVp6qBV8May 21, 2023
Arguably, Chamblee has been the biggest critic of LIV Golf, with the Golf Channel analyst calling out Greg Norman and Phil Mickelson's involvement in the Saudi-backed league. Back in October, the former PGA Tour winner stated: "It’s lost on them (Mickelson and Norman) that they’re working for a dictator and dictators are notoriously good at manipulating people to the incremental change it takes to get to tyranny."
Following the finale at Oak Hill, US Ryder Cup captain, Zach Johnson, didn't rule out LIV players from his 12-man squad, stating: "Yeah, he's on the team. He's got direct ownership in that, absolutely." Essentially, Koepka could earn a spot via the six automatic spots or, if he were to miss out, via one of the six captain's picks.
Discussing the subject, Chamblee believes Koepka shouldn't be featuring, before Faxon explains that the: "USGA will let those same exempt players already play. The PGA of America runs the Ryder Cup. I don't think this has anything to do with... They're not playing for money at the Ryder Cup, they are playing for their country, if they're American."
Following the point, Chamblee repeats the lines "they're playing for their country", with the 60-year-old then adding: "There's a certain sense that the Europeans are playing for their Tour". Following the repetition, Faxon then delivers the line "they're playing golf", before an awkward silence fills the room, with both men staring at one another.
The Ryder Cup gets underway at the end of September, with USA's qualification concluding after the BMW Championship on the 20th August. Whoever finishes inside the top six at that point will automatically qualify, with Johnson selecting his six captain’s picks following the 2023 Tour Championship.
