Koepka: It’s tragic and I’m messed up
BROOKS KOEPKA has been wrestling with some major emotional issues. Not, he insists, grappling with one of his best friends in golf.
As curious as he might be about his chances in a bareknuckle scrap with Dustin Johnson, the Team USA Ryder Cup star is absolutely adamant that there was no heavyweight bout before, during or after last week’s blowout win for Europe in Paris.
You can decide which version of the truth to believe.
What shouldn’t be in doubt is that, compared to the tragedy that left a spectator permanently blind in one eye, tittle-tattle over who did or didn’t take a swing at whom hardly matters much.
Koepka yesterday bared his soul over the anguish he’s endured since that mis-hit shot on the opening day of action at the Ryder Cup.
Corinne Remande, who came from Egypt to be at one of the biggest sporting events, was hit by the 28-year-old’s errant shot while watching from beside the sixth green at Le Golf National.
Upon arrival in Scotland for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Tuesday, Koepka was told Mrs Remande had lost the sight in her right eye.
‘Yesterday was one of the worst days of my life,’ said the double US Open champion. who is playing with brother Chase and regular caddie Ricky Elliott in this unique pro-am event over three courses — St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns.
‘I haven’t had too many tragedies in my personal family where there has been a loss or any accident. I’ve been lucky in that sense.
‘I wasn’t told until I got to the golf course. I’m not the biggest guy on social media so, when I got here and got 25 messages, I was heartbroken.
‘My stomach sank and yesterday was probably one of the hardest days of trying to focus on playing, knowing what is going to come.
‘I don’t get to play with my brother very much and I brought my caddie here to play. But I wasn’t very talkative as I spent an hour-and-a-half on the phone to get the real story of what was going on. I am torn up about it.
‘It’s sad she won’t see out of her eye ever again. It’s upsetting.
‘I hit a golf ball and someone lost their sight in their eye.
‘We reached out to Mrs Remande and her husband to see how things are going and we didn’t hear back last night. I’m looking forward to speaking to her today or in the next few days because there is nobody who feels worse about this than I do.
‘It’s a tragic accident, what happened, and I’m heartbroken. I’m all messed up inside.
‘In my career it will be the one shot I definitely regret, even though everyone from the Ryder Cup and the PGA of America has assured me she will get the care she needs.’
Away from this traumatic event, the golfing world is inquiring into what went wrong with America’s Ryder Cup challenge.
There’s so much quality in the US team, the theory goes, that there must be something disrupting team spirit.
Koepka, addressing stories that he and world No 1 Johnson had been virtually pulled apart at the ‘after-party’, even one that they’d fallen out on the flight to France, declared: ‘The whole Dustin thing, I don’t get it.
‘It’s actually quite funny to us as we are really good friends. There was no argument, no fight. But I’m curious who would win. It would be interesting...
‘We’ve never fought, that’s not our relationship. We’re two evenkeeled guys and I can’t even remember raising my voice to him — or him to me — in our four years of friendship.
‘We supposedly fought on the plane on the way over, too. I mean, we were sleeping. There was no fight, no argument. He is one of my best friends. People like to make a story and run with it.
‘The camaraderie is good. It’s perfect. The problem is you guys try to find a reason why we lost. We didn’t play well, we didn’t hit fairways and I lost two matches.
‘We had a group chat and we all wish we could have played better but that’s it.’