{"id":292759,"date":"2023-09-27T22:23:11","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T22:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/?p=292759"},"modified":"2023-09-27T22:23:11","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T22:23:11","slug":"brooks-koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/golf\/brooks-koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooks Koepka loves being villain of the piece"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Ryder Cup 2023: Brooks Koepka loves being villain of the piece&#8230; he is worth his weight in gold to Team USA this week &#8211; to hell with the LIV script<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Team USA star is the only player from LIV competing on either side in Rome<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>He has insisted he wants to play the best players from Team Europe this week<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Mail Sport&#8217;s new WhatsApp Channel: Get the breaking news and exclusives here<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It took two words for Brooks Koepka to separate himself from the pack. Two words to highlight the obvious, which is that he isn\u2019t so much like the rest of them.<\/p>\n<p>The enquiry was an interesting one: if this 44th Ryder Cup goes to the last match of the final day, how many of the 24 golfers here at Marco Simone would really, truly, want to carry the responsibility?<\/p>\n<p>He paused, gave a little stare, and said what he thinks in that intense way of his: \u2018Very few.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>For a moment or two, it went without saying he considers himself among them, and then there was a confirmation: \u2018You\u2019ve always got to believe you\u2019re the best and want to be the best and have that drive. I don\u2019t know how many guys would want an eight-footer with this on the line.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>But he would be one, naturally. And if it all goes how he wants, come Sunday and the singles, it wouldn\u2019t be a hand-to-hand duel against someone in Europe\u2019s middle order, either. \u2018You want to play a good player. Some guys want to play certain people. Yeah, I\u2019d love to play Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/27\/20\/75907543-0-image-a-1_1695843614668.jpg\" height=\"439\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Brooks Koepka has insisted he wants to play the best players Europe has to offer at the Ruder Cup this weekend<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/27\/20\/75907549-0-image-a-2_1695843619984.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Koepka has been in Rome preparing for the tournament but said a lot of players would shy away from the tough games<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/27\/20\/75907545-0-image-a-3_1695843624345.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>He made his way down the Spanish steps on Thursday evening with wife Jena Sims ahead of team photos<\/p>\n<p>And isn\u2019t that just what Koepka is all about?<\/p>\n<p>It has been a theme of this week in Rome that the niceties have been trowelled on to a contest that occasionally flies a little close to schmaltz. Koepka himself spent time here discussing the tighter bonds of this team than, say, Paris 2018, when he and Dustin Johnson nearly traded blows in the aftermath of defeat. But he remains a man who doesn\u2019t stick neatly to scripts, the sort of guy who has previously drawn fire for describing the forced comradeship of this environment as \u2018a bit odd\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>We can call it his alpha complex, which he wears more comfortably than any team blazer, or we can call it his otherness. Because there is a separation. He stands apart from the rest as the only golfer here with five majors and he is isolated in more topical ways.<\/p>\n<p>Conspicuously, he wasn\u2019t part of the Team USA picture on arrival \u2014 he travelled alone to Italy from Chicago. And the reason he was in Chicago is because he plays with that other band of brothers, LIV, and that makes him the outlier.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I hadn\u2019t noticed,\u2019 he said, and that got a laugh. There is no doubt that the absence of those who went to LIV has altered the feeling of an event that was going to be great, with or without them.<\/p>\n<p>Great, but different.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/27\/21\/75908637-12568115-image-a-5_1695845622010.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Segio Garcia is one of a number of golfers who will miss the Ryder Cup due to LIV involvement<\/p>\n<p>The loss of Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed would inevitably leave a mark. They have been the Cup\u2019s heartbeat of the past two decades \u2014 Reed versus McIlroy in 2014, Poulter at Medinah, Johnson\u2019s five from five at Whistling Straits, Garcia\u2019s records, DeChambeau driving 417 yards at the first in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Without them, it is not quite the same and within that is a point which has arisen at numerous times in the past 18 months, because those who crossed over to LIV have often served as the villains we need in sport.<\/p>\n<p>Not villains in a deeper sense, because they mostly just hit balls with sticks, but the sort who don\u2019t always go with the grain. The spikier personalities. The box office guys. The creators of context. Golf has suffered without them, whatever we might think about their decisions.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/27\/20\/75907591-0-image-a-4_1695843649963.jpg\" height=\"419\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Team USA captain\u00a0Zach Johnson had no choice but to pick Johnson for the upcoming event<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/27\/21\/75908679-12568115-image-a-6_1695845712817.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>He is worth his weight in gold for Team USA this week in Rome for reasons both on and off the golf course<\/p>\n<p>And that is why Koepka is worth his weight in gold this week, both for his indifference to party lines and also in his chimes of Tiger Woods, because it is fascinating to see how an alpha like Koepka, more than any other player since Woods, can fit into an arena where the team is everything.<\/p>\n<p>That he received a pick from Zach Johnson is no surprise \u2014 his win at the US PGA Championship would have made a fool of a captain who dared to overlook him. But no other LIV player was in contention, and nor did Johnson ever make any obvious effort to look at eligible, high-level players beyond the borders of the PGA Tour and the majors.<\/p>\n<p>Koepka was given a chance to comment on that odd approach: \u2018I had the same opportunity as every other LIV player, and I\u2019m here. Play better, that\u2019s the answer.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>To hell with the LIV script and to hell with the rest. That has often been Koepka\u2019s style. Golf is better for it, and so would the Ryder Cup be if he finds himself in that final fight on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/golf\/article-12568115\/Brooks-Koepka-loves-villain-piece-Team-USA.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ryder Cup 2023: Brooks Koepka loves being villain of the piece&#8230; he is worth his weight in gold to Team [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Brooks Koepka loves being villain of the piece - All My Sports News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/golf\/brooks-koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brooks Koepka loves being villain of the piece - All My Sports News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ryder Cup 2023: Brooks Koepka loves being villain of the piece&#8230; he is worth his weight in gold to Team [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/golf\/brooks-koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"All My Sports News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-27T22:23:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Brooks-Koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/golf\/brooks-koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/golf\/brooks-koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece\/\",\"name\":\"Brooks Koepka loves being villain of the piece - All My Sports News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-27T22:23:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-27T22:23:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/golf\/brooks-koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/golf\/brooks-koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/golf\/brooks-koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Golf\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/category\/golf\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Brooks Koepka loves being villain of the piece\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/\",\"name\":\"All My Sports News\",\"description\":\"allmysportsnews.com\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\",\"name\":\"mediabest\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mediabest\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Brooks Koepka loves being villain of the piece - All My Sports News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/golf\/brooks-koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Brooks Koepka loves being villain of the piece - All My Sports News","og_description":"Ryder Cup 2023: Brooks Koepka loves being villain of the piece&#8230; he is worth his weight in gold to Team [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/golf\/brooks-koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece\/","og_site_name":"All My Sports News","article_published_time":"2023-09-27T22:23:11+00:00","author":"mediabest","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Brooks-Koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mediabest","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/golf\/brooks-koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece\/","url":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/golf\/brooks-koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece\/","name":"Brooks Koepka loves being villain of the piece - All My Sports News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-09-27T22:23:11+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-27T22:23:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/golf\/brooks-koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/golf\/brooks-koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/golf\/brooks-koepka-loves-being-villain-of-the-piece\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Golf","item":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/category\/golf\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Brooks Koepka loves being villain of the piece"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/","name":"All My Sports News","description":"allmysportsnews.com","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609","name":"mediabest","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mediabest"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292759"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}